Not Afraid
by WalkingPotterGirl14
Summary: She had been so close to getting out when her whole world was shut down by a stupid officer, but not for long. Through new bonds and new threats, Beth reunites with Daryl, and finds that life before was even harder now than it ever was when she was taken, but she was ready to fight beside him, and she was willing to do anything to keep her family safe. (M rating later on)
1. Escaping

**So, I'm currently writing two other stories while writing this, but one of them is slowly coming to an end, and the other one is starting, but the chapters aren't that long. I was actually on Tumblr yesterday, and as some of my fan fiction followers know, I am a Bethyler, and I ship them like crazy. I've never written a story for them, so I though why not start now? **

**Now, please don't judge this story lol. I have never written a story for two characters that were actually on the show. I mostly do original characters, so this is a whole new thing for me. The characters might be a bit OOC, but it's only because I'm literally brand new to this whole thing. This will probably follow some aspects from the show, and be slightly canon, but it is my story, so that means that different stuff is gonna happen. So just...lol I'm just gonna start now. **

**~%~  
><strong>

_I'm not afraid _  
><em>To take a stand<em>  
><em>Everybody <em>  
><em>Come take my hand <em>  
><em>We'll walk this road together, through the storm<em>  
><em>Whatever weather, cold or warm<em>  
><em>Just letting you know that you're not alone<em>  
><em>Holler if you feel like you've been down the same road <em>

_-Not Afraid (Eminem) _

**~%~**

She had tried.

She was happy that Noah got out, but she had been so close. So freaking close. She was nearly at the gates, nearly being able to escape this fucked up place, but more officers just had to come, they just had to grab her. She saw Noah look back, looking at her being taken to the ground by one of the men, but she simply smiled and told him to go on. He had been planning to get out all this time, and he finally was. She wasn't going to jeopardize it now that he finally achieved it by getting killed.

But she was still pissed off.

She had been so close to getting out, to finding her group, her family. To finding her sister. To finding Daryl. Just thinking that she was that close to getting out and finding him made her blood boil.

And now, Noah was alone, somewhere in Atlanta, and here she was, still in this God forsaken hospital, still getting slapped silly by Dawn. She wasn't one to hate people, not that much anyway, but she did not like that woman. She wanted her to feel her own pain, to get slapped back, but Beth wasn't like that. She was never like that. And just when she was about to kill that stupid Doctor, Carol gets rolled in here, unconscious and looking very hurt.

She wondered deep down what would happen when she woke up, when Dawn would tell her that she owed them for 'saving her life.' Carol probably wouldn't stand for it. Beth had planned to kill the doctor and somehow get away, that she hadn't worked out yet, but she was going to, but now, with Carol here, she couldn't just leave her. She would feel terrible about herself. She had known the woman for nearly two years. Leaving her would be stupid and selfish.

After she saw Carol get taken away, she had gone back to her 'room' to think things out, one what to tell Carol when she eventually did see her, to see if she was with the group again and wonder how they had been doing, how Judith had been doing, how Daryl was. At that moment, she looked down at the medicine she was being forced to make and blushes slightly, shaking her head.

She was such a naive girl to feel these things for the man that was nearly twice her age. Admittedly, the nineteen year old blonde had developed a small crush on Daryl, a _small one. _She doubted endlessly that he would have any feelings at all for her. She knew he thought of her as a young girl considering her age. Granted, she wasn't a child. She was a woman. She had proven that she was strong, that she had guts, that she could survive just as well as someone else from their group, but here she was, in this fucked up place, trig to figure out how to get out.

Beth shakes her head, looking outside her window at the tall, white building across the street. _Get it together, girl _she mentally chastises. _This isn't the time to be thinking about this. You need to get out and get Carol. Now...how? _She places the medicine to the side and sighs, looking out the window thoroughly, thinking hard. How on earth would she go through with this? The only plan she had was with Noah, and now that was out the window._  
><em>

"Excuse me?"

Beth spins around at the sudden voice, looking at the woman who was at her door. She had dark brown hair that was wavy and was in a high ponytail. Her blue eyes were furrowed in slight confusion. She wore the same scrubs that Beth wore, and had on black combat boots that looked worn out and torn. She tilts her head slightly.

"Yes?" Beth asks, her voice a bit impatient. She had just been thinking and now more of these people were getting in her way.

"You're Beth, right? The one who tried to escape?" Beth crosses her arms, leaning against the windowsill slightly.

"Sadly, yes. Didn't work out that well." The girl chuckles at Beth's sarcasm, and walks in, placing the knife she had down on the table. It was covered in fresh blood, so Beth could only guess the girl had just helped out with one of the amputations that Dawn put out.

"I can see that." She extends her hand out to the nineteen year old. "I'm Natalie, but people call me Nat. Been here for a few months now, and my people are a bit interested in you." Beth's brow furrows as she takes the woman's hand a bit unsurely.

"Interested?" Nat nods, pulling her hand back.

"Do you have duty at all? Anything to do?" Beth looks back at the medicine and nods slightly.

"I finished this, but I have to drop it off at-"

"Dawn's office? Good. It's on the way. Follow me." Beth looks at her questioningly, opening her mouth to ask where the hell she was going, but Nat kept walking, her knife now in her hands. Without another word, Beth grabs the medicine and follows Nat down the hallway slowly, her eyes looking back and forth for Carol, but she couldn't' seem to find the woman's body anywhere. Nat stops at Dawn's door and opens it, stepping in and looking at Dawn, who was at her desk.

"Dawn?" she questions. Beth walks in afterwards and places the medicine down on the nearest cabinet, feeling the officers eyes on her. "Since Ms. Greene is done with her duties, I was wondering if I could show her the catacombs?" The way she asked the officer actually made Beth cringe inwardly. She prayed that this woman was acting, because if she wasn't, Beth felt like she was in deep shit. Dawn nods, looking at Beth with slight anger.

"Yeah, that's good. Show her. It'll be great." Nat nods and looks to Beth, gesturing her head to go outside. Beth follows her with one last look at Dawn, who had looked back down at the desk. Once they were out of earshot, Nat pulls Beth over to the side where there was no one and looks at her reassuringly.

"Don't worry. You're not going to the catacombs." Beth's brow furrows again.

"What is that?"

"It's when we feed rule-breakers to the lurkers down below to shut them up. Luckily, me and my friends haven't been caught yet." Beth tilts her head.

"You don't call them rotters?" Nat snorts.

"Fuck no. Come on. Follow me." Nat walks further down the hallway with Beth hot on her heels, looking around at every corner, making sure no one was following them, until she reached a door at the end, closed and locked. She knocks on the door and it opens, revealing a man with black curly hair and brown eyes. He was smirking at Natalie.

"Password?" he asks in his most exaggerated british accent. Natalie rolls her eyes.

"Suck it, Patrick." The man laughs and pulls the door open, letting the two girls in. Patrick looks at Beth and smirks.

"So you did get her! What did you have to do? Every officer is pissed at her."

"Had to tell Dawn I was taking her to the catacombs, so they think she's dead meat." Patrick hisses happily.

"Nice!" he exclaims, high giving her. Beth looks around and sees Patrick, as well as two other people, looking at her and she crosses her arms.

"I'm sorry. I'm confused." Natalie's eyes widen.

"God, where are my manners?" she chuckles. Patrick snorts.

"Back in 2010." Natalie glares at Patrick before continuing.

"Obviously you know who I am. The two girls are Alice and MK, but her name is Mary-Kate." The two girls smile at Beth. "And this asshole next to me-"

"Daring and amazing asshole," Patrick states.

"-is my stepbrother, Patrick," she finishes. "Who puts the ass in 'class.'" Beth chuckles at that phrase, while Nat smiles. Patrick shakes Beth's hand and smiles at her.

"Glad to finally meet you, Beth Greene. I heard, that you're looking for a way out." Beth nods, looking at Natalie.

"Yeah...do you-"

"Yup," Nat finishes. "We've been planning something for the past couple of months, wanting to get the hell out of here. And you, are a part of that." Beth's heart flutters at the idea of escape, at seeing her family, but one barrier was in her way.

"I have someone here. Her name is Carol. She was just brought in. Can we...could we take her?" Nat bites her lip, looking away, while Patrick sighs.

"We have to get out of here, Beth. I'm sorry, but I don't think we can. If you want to get out, we can't have anymore than five people with us." Beth sighs shakily and nods, looking down at the ground. She felt terrible already. She was getting out while Carol would be stuck in here.

_But this is Carol we're talking about _her mind argues. _She'll get out. One way or another._

"Okay," she mumbles. "But what is this plan? Are we going to get out easily?" Nat nods at Patrick and he smiles, walking out of the room.

"Well, we're staring this now, so I'll give it to you quick. Patrick is gonna pull the fire alarm, which will alert everyone to the kitchen, as that is where they usually go if something goes off. MK and Alice are going to go to the weapons closet quickly, and in there is a small window. Patrick is gonna follow them. Us two, we go outside and we grab the weapons, using them if lurkers come near us. After we have all the stuff we need, we get the three out and make a run for it, but each other. No one gets left behind."

_No one gets left behind. _Those words stuck in Beth's head, and she nods. At that moment, the fire alarm goes off and the two girls take off through the door. Nat grabs Beth's hand and takes her to the double doors that led outside, running quickly over to the handle and pushing them open. Beth could hear the talking and shouting, all the footsteps heading towards the cafeteria, but her adrenaline was starting to run, as everything was happening so fast.

Nat looked like someone who wanted to just keep going and didn't stop. She did things fast, and Beth sort of liked that. She wasn't slow, so that meant the quicker they got out, the better. Nat stops moving and sees walkers starting to come at them. At this, she bangs on the window above her and it opens, sending out an AK47 onto the ground. Beth's eyes widen.

"Jesus," she whispers. Nat takes it and aims it at one of the lurkers, shooting it right in the head.

"They take away the weapons when they bring people in. Some people had some amazing ones." The walkers kept coming and Nat kept shooting, showing she was actually pretty well equipped for the impending hell they would get outside. Beth wondered where she learned to shoot like that, but couldn't think long, because a pistol quickly fell in front of her, and she began to shoot at well.

The weapons came for hours it seemed, but in reality, it was only a few minutes. The two women were so focused that they didn't here the shouts of the girls and Patrick for a second. Nat launches up and helps them out one by one, all while Beth kept her covered. Officers began to spill out of the old hospital as Patrick landed on the ground, and all of them ran, grabbing guns and knives, stabbing walkers in the head quickly, the oozing blood splattering onto the old scrubs that the people wore.

But Beth didn't care. For a moment, she didn't care about anything. She didn't care that Carol was in there, or that she was leaving her, or that they were getting out. It just felt...good.

She didn't even notice when Nat shot at an officer coming at Beth, grabbed her hand, and brought them through the fence, heading towards a large truck near the edge of the road. More walkers kept coming as Patrick jumped into the vehicle and hot-wired it quicker than Beth thought humanly possible.

"Keep that gun up!" MK yells high above the moans and shouts of the officers. Beth follows her orders as the walkers tumbled and tripped after them, seeing the fresh flesh of the humans, but Patrick was quick. He starts up the car and smiles.

"I got it!" All of the girls rush into the truck as the officers were starting to close in on them, but Patrick pulls back and speeds off in the other direction, leaving them in the dust. He runs over a few walkers in the way, but pays no mind, as the group cheered and cursed at the people behind them. Nat screamed with joy and looked at Beth, who was smiling.

"We got out. You did good." Beth smiles wider at Nat, who smiled back. In that moment, Beth knew that these people were good, and that they would be there.

They would help her find Daryl.

**~%~**

It had been a couple of hours before the truck ran out of gas. Conveniently, they had stopped right near a gas station, and they decided to stay there for the night, heading back out tomorrow. At the moment, the dark sky had fallen onto the earth, and they were sitting down on the floor in the old store that usually came with gas stations, and after Patrick had found gas and put it into the car for it to be ready, he had found an old six pack of Budlight, bringing it up.

Beth sat quietly next to Nat, who was telling an old story of when she was in high school, and her hands were moving in fluid motions, saying how crazy it had been, but to be honest, Beth wasn't listening that much. She was staring outside the tall window in the store, looking at the bright moon above. It was full and bright, seemingly shining down on the world.

She wondered where her group was, where her sister was. She wondered if they were looking for her, or if they even cared at all. She always knew she was slightly a burden up until the prison was taken. She didn't really know how to shoot a gun well or even hunt until the prison was taken over. She actually never felt so thankful for something.

"What about you, Beth?" The suddenness of her name caused Beth to turn around sharply, looking at Nat with a questioning look.

"What?" she asks numbly. They laugh.

"Looks like she was day-dreaming," Patrick sings slightly. "Who was it? A boy?" Beth feels her face redden without her knowledge, and Patrick smirks. "Knew it," he states, taking a sip of his beer.

"No, it's not-"

"It's okay, Beth," Alice says funnily. "Everyone has had those moments. What's his name?" All of them looked at her expectedly, while Beth rubs her arm of slight embarrassment.

"...Daryl," she states after a few beats. Patricks eyes light up like a Christmas tree.

"Oh my God. Nat, do you remember that there was this kid in our shop class named Daryl? He was small and squirmy but like, really bright?" Nat chuckles.

"Yes. I do. Is that your Daryl?" Beth shakes her head, ignoring that she said 'your.' That description didn't fit Daryl at all. "Eh, whatever, but yeah, I remember him. His clock was great." Patrick nods.

"Yeah. Mine looked like a boat." The girls laugh, and Beth spares a smile. "Anyway, continue on. We're you two together or-"

"No!" Beth interrupts rather rudely. She clears her throat. "I mean, no we weren't together like that, but-"

"Feelings were implied?" MK finishes. "Yeah, I've heard stuff like that." Beth opens her mouth to reply but closes it a moment later. She remembered that night in the funeral home, those unsaid words that he was going to say until the walkers made an appearance. Did he have feelings for her? Was that what he was going to say to her?

She shakes her head, looking down at the beer in her hands, and it reminded her of that night in the shack and the moonshine. God, everything reminded her of him.

"You guys are embarrassing," she mumbles. Nat laughs.

"Gotta get used to that. We do stuff like this. But...do you know where he is?"

"No. They took me away from him when they brought me to the hospital." Patrick shakes his head.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk," he shakes his head. "Assholes. Bunch of them." Alice nods.

"They did the same with me and took us away from our people. They take the weaker people so they can make a quicker getaway." Beth glares at the ground.

"I'm not weak," she mutters. Nat sighs.

"Girl, we know you're strong, but in physicality? Not so much. We gotta build up those muscles." Beth rolls her eyes.

"Sure. Like you're much stronger." The three people 'ooh' at Beth while Nat narrows her eyes playfully.

"Hey, I'm a dancer. I have strong legs."

"We're the same size!"

"Whatever, Greene," she mumbles, taking a sip of her beer. "Well, do you have any idea where he might be? His group? Could we find them easily?" Beth sighs, shrugging her shoulders.

"I have no idea." Nat bites her lip.

"Well, damn. But aint nothin' impossible for us." She stands up and looks at a map that was on the wall of the store. "We're about 60 miles from Atlanta. That's good. How about we start looking for your group tomorrow?" Beth's eyes widen.

"Really? That quickly? You just met me!" Nat shrugs.

"You helped us get out. You kept us alive. That's good enough proof for us." She raises her bottle and the rest to the same. "In fact, you're the reason why we went with the plan. If it wasn't for you, we would still be stuck in there. To Beth."

"To Beth!" the others cheer happily, taking a sip of their beers. Beth feels her face glowing, while Nat smiles at her, sitting down on the ground once more.

"Welcome to the island of misfit toys. It's a pleasure to have you." Beth laughs and clinks bottles with Nat, who chuckles and takes another sip, looking to Patrick, who was beginning to talk again. "How old are you anyway, Beth?"

"Nineteen. I think." Nat's eyes widen.

"Wow. I thought you were older. You handled yourself well out there. I'm sure your boy would be proud." Beth looks at her with slightly tired eyes.

"He's not really...you know." Nat smiles.

"Honey, with the way you act around him, it'll happen eventually. It sounds like you two have been through a lot with the way you talk about him. We'll find him, and it'll be great." Beth nods and smiles, taking another sip. She didn't worry whether they would be found by the hospital people, or that the dead were walking outside. She just took Nat's word and didn't worry. They would find her family. They would find Daryl.

**~%~**

**Review please? :) Luv ya!**


	2. Missed You

**Wow. I am shocked by the approval I've gotten from starting this. I'm looking forward to writing this now. :) Thanks for the new followers and reviews. They mean so much. Now let's move on. **

**~%~**

The next day came quickly, giving Beth barely any sleep time. The group had been talking for hours on end, all chatting and telling stories of their past, Patrick with the most funny ones. Beth had to admit, the guy could make someone laugh when he or she was feeling down. He just had that personality that lit up the room like Time Square at midnight. You couldn't_ not_ laugh at him. It was impossible not to.

Natalie on the other hand showed more serious stories, telling about her life and where she grew up. Beth had learned a lot about the person who took her away. Natalie had grown up on lower east side of Manhattan with two sisters, Jenny and Piper, who she said 'were alive and well.' She knew that her sisters were alive and in the city somewhere. They would be okay.

Her father was a good man, a very good man, in her words. He always kept them safe and taught them how to defend themselves, to stay alive as a lower class woman in New York. She was always ready to take on the world. That was how she planned on getting out of the hospital. She was quick. Rarely anyone could get to her because she was nimble and fast.

Natalie had also been in her second year of college when the shit hit the fan, and was on fall break with family down in Georgia. Since she didn't like flying, her family took the plane back to New York and she and her brother planned on taking a train, but they got stuck, and she was still here two years later.

"To be honest," she stated. "I don't mind, even if I was with Patrick."

"I take total offense for that," he replies sourly. She rolls his eyes.

"He's always a drama queen. But it was better than facing the lurkers in the city. That's scary."

And after that, everyone was talking, sharing how they got down to Georgia, as Beth was literally the only one in that group that had a southern accent, and it wasn't even that strong, compared to others from her old group. Some of them had been fairly interesting. Of course Patrick was with Natalie. Alice had been working on an internship when the dead rose, and MK had been with her then boyfriend. She openly admitted that he was dead, but she didn't mind that much.

"He was an asshole," she said to her.

Beth didn't complain. Though she didn't really have that many boyfriends in the past, she knew was asshole guys could be like. Jimmy was never really like that, at some times but not all the time. Zach...was sort of a different story that she didn't like getting into. Rarely did she talk about him. She didn't mention those two last night at all.

Now, it was daytime, they had driven for about a half hour, and then stopped in a small town filled with small shops. Patrick had spotted out an old farmers market and said he was investigating that. MK and Alice found a weapons store, saying they needed more ammo for their guns as they were running low. Natalie, being the girl that she was, instantly locked eyes with a clothing store, and after taking one look down at her blood covered scrubs, she went right in the direction of it, nodding at Beth to follow.

"Shouldn't we be helping them?" Beth asks wearily, looking at the clothing store. Natalie shakes her head.

"No need. They'll be fine by themselves. You need new clothes anyway. Have you seen your shirt?" Beth looks down and realizes that the girl was right. All of her was covered in black walker blood, it's stain huge. Maybe she had gotten so used to the smell that she didn't really noticed. Beth quietly follows Nat into the store, standing sort of awkwardly near the front while Nat picked out clothes.

To be honest, if this was the old world, Beth would have been all over that place. The clothes were pretty good, cute, she might say, but now the store held almost a foreign feeling. She couldn't remember the last time she had been in a clothing store.

Nat turned around with a white tank top in her hands and looked at Beth curiously.

"You are a nineteen year old, right?" Beth furrows her brow.

"Last I checked," she replies cautiously.

"Then why aren't you freaking out over all of this?" she asks, gesturing to the items in the store. "It's free clothes!"

"I'm not the same girl I used to be," Beth mutters, looking back out the window. Nat frowns, biting her bottom lip slightly, before walking over and grabbing Beth's hand, dragging her deeper into the store and towards the clothing room in the back. "What the hell are you doing?" Beth exclaims. Nat's grip on her hand was tight.

"You know what you need?" she asks rhetorically. "A new look. Which means new clothes." Beth shakes her head.

"I'm fine! This isn't _Extreme Makeover_!" Natalie snorts.

"Sweetie, I know the worlds gone to shit, but that doesn't mean you have to let your appearance do the same." She sits Beth down in a dressing room chair, pointing her finger at her once she was seated. "Stay here."

Before Beth could reply, Nat had closed the door and taken off into the forest of shirts and pants, leaving the young woman behind with her mouth open like a fish. Beth lets out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding, staring down at the ground.

It was strangely refreshing and confusing for Beth to see Natalie doing stuff like this for her. Refreshing because she could barely remember the last time she had been forced to try on new clothes, especially in the dead infested world, but confusing because again, Natalie just met her the day before. Maybe she was one of those people who didn't care what you did unless you hurt her family. She just liked to help people and make sure that they were safe.

Either way, Beth sat in that chair and waited for a couple of minutes, her chin in her hand and her eyes to the ground. She had barely gotten any sleep the night prior due to the time they decided to pass out, and God was she tired, but as soon as she felt something hit her head, she sprung up from her seat, looking at the item on the ground. It was a white tank top, the same as Nat's as well as a few others.

"Try those on and then come on out!" Before Beth could argue, Nat had gone into her own changing room and was changing into new clothes for herself. Beth sighs and takes off her undesirable scrubs slowly and palaces on the new clothes as Nat steps out of her own room and looks at herself in the three way mirror. She whistles at her relfection, smiling.

"Damn. The shit storm made me look better! These jeans are amazing!" She hears the door from one of the rooms close and she spins around, smiling as she see Beth step out in the clothes that Natalie had picked out for her. She had on the same tank top that Nat was wearing, but everything else was different. While Nat was wearing dark blue jeans, Beth wore black that fit her perfectly. Nat wore a pleather jacket that she thought wasn't that heavy, while Beth wore a vest. Nat had even gotten her a pair of combat boots for her to wear, as they were better than the shoes she had before. "I knew black would look good on you," Nat triumphantly says.

"I don't know," Beth mumbles, stepping up to the mirror. She looked totally different than who she usually was. It was so...dark.

"Oh, but I do, and you look great." She places her hands to Beth's ponytail and pulls out the hairband, letting her soft blonde curls fall to her shoulders, a few pieces framing her face. "I mean, everything contrasts with each other and it just looks so good. You should keep your hair down more often. It looks pretty." Beth turns around and looks at Nat, who had her own hair hanging.

"What about walkers? Can't that grab it?" Nat places her hands on her hips.

"I honestly think you should wear it down. If you want..." She walks a bit further and grabs something from behind the counter before walking back and swinging the item in the air. Beth's eyes widen.

"No way. Uh uh. You are _not _cutting my hair." Natalie laughs.

"Come on, Beth!"

"No!" she argues. Natalie rolls her eyes.

"Beth, my mother was a hairdresser. I know what I'm doing." Beth stands stark still as Nat's hands travel to Beth's hair, stopping her hands right near the edge of her shoulders. Nat smiles slightly. "I think a cute little bob would work. One like Taylor Swift. I'm sure you've seen what she looks like." Beth glares at her.

"Is is just because I'm southern?" Nat rolls her eyes.

"Beth, everyone has heard of her. Shut up and sit down." Beth was forced to sit down on the chair in front of the mirror and Nat gets down on her knees and positions the scissors near the back of her head. Beth's eyes widen.

"WAIT!" Nat pulls back and raises an eyebrow at her.

"What?" she chuckles.

"What...what kind of bob? Like, a boy bob because-"

"No, Beth. I mean like hair that reaches to your shoulders. It'll look amazing. Trust me." Beth faces the mirror and rings her hands nervously as Natalie places the scissors near her head once more. Beth closes her eyes as she feels the first piece of hair fall, and she keeps them closed for the whole entire process. She was afraid. Would her family even recognize her? She bit her lip and prayed the shakiness to go away.

**~%~**

"Where the hell are they?" Alice yells, leaning against the truck. Patrick sat on the ground not to far away, playing with the string of his shoe while MK paced back and forth. Patrick smirks and stands up from the ground.

"What do you expect? They're girls. They take their time to look fabulous." MK glares at him.

"If you haven't noticed, we're girls too dipwad!"

"You know Nat. She takes her time," he restates. "And now she has Beth. Can you imagine what they're talking about right now? God, such girly things." Alice snorts.

"You're one to talk, Patrick. Weren't you majoring in theater before all this?" Patrick rolls his eyes and stands up, pointing at her.

"You know what you can au-holy crap." He turns his head and looks over as the two girls finally emerge from the store. Alice and MK follow his look and their eyes widen, staring at the two women in front of them.

Natalie looked the same, wearing the clothes she used to before she got captured by the hospital people, but Beth looked so much different. The clothes complimented her body perfectly, showing off even the tiniest of details on her skin. Even the jeans hugged her hips, contrasting with her slightly pale skin. But it wasn't just the fact that her clothes were different. It was her hair. Completely her hair. Nearly half of it was gone. Now, it reached just below her shoulders, and had a slight bounce to it. Her blonde hair worked wonders on her.

"Damn, Beth!" Patrick exclaims. "You're looking like a rebel with that hair! Shit!" Beth blushes and looks down, while Natalie smirks.

"Another work done by me." Patricks eyes widen as Beth takes a stand next to MK and Alice. MK smiles.

"Your hair looks great, Beth."

"Really," Alice states. "It does. I wish I could pull that off." Beth laughs and looks to Patrick.

"No way. You did not do that! It looks too good!" Natalie sticks her tongue out.

"Suck it, brother." He narrows his eyes and playfully ruffles her hair, to which she screams out not to. "Patrick, stop!" He pulls back his hands with a vibrating body as he laughs, and she glares hatefully before looking at Beth, who was snickering at the scene. Natalie rolls her eyes and walks over to the truck, a bag in her hands filled with clothes from before. Planning to hand it out to the rest of them later on.

"Come on. Let's get the hell out of here. Aint nothing left." She nods at Beth. "Get in the front. You're gonna help me with the roads a bit because I can't see shit." Beth nods and climbs into the passenger seat as Nat starts up the truck, and the vehicle roars to life as the rest of the group climbs into the back. It wasn't a moment later until Nat took off at the speed of light, speeding through the multitude of walkers in the road.

**~%~**

It was nighttime now and Beth had been trying to recognize the area as best as she could, but she had no avail. Granted, it was dark outside, but it was like everywhere she looked she couldn't recognize anything. It was torture, and it made her start to lose any faith in finding anyone that she knew. It was always dark, and when it was daylight they would be scouting.

Beth kept her gaze out the window and sighed quietly, but Nat didn't seem to pick it up, as her eyes were focused on the road. In a second, MK ran up to the front of the truck and stuck her head in, looking at Nat with a questioning gaze.

"Would you happen to-"

"Bottom right hand corner of the back of the truck. Few shirts in there." MK smiled graciously.

"Thanks girly." She runs back and takes off her shirt, earning a wolf whistle from Patrick.

"Yeah, take it off!" MK smacks him with the shirt she grabs and he snickers.

"Patrick, I thought you were gay?" Alice asks, her brow furrowing.

"He is," Nat finishes, "but he likes to do stuff like that every once and a while to piss girls off. I told you he's an asshole."

"A beautiful asshole, that is." MK snorts.

"Yeah, in your dreams." Beth smiles slightly at the bicker. Though the conversation was something completely different, it reminded her of when she was have slight rounds with her sister, their little comments being thrown back and forth at one another.

As Nat drove, Beth stared outside, her new hair slightly hanging in front of her face. The car was going slow to preserve more gas, so Beth could read any sign they passed. Her eye focused on an old sign that had words painted on it, and her eyes widened when she realized what it said.

_Glenn_

_Go to Terminus_

_Maggie, Sasha and Bob_

Beth's brow furrows. "She didn't...she...what?" she says, not believing what she just saw, looking back at the sign as they passed. Maggie didn't write her name. She wrote Glenn's name, but not her sisters. Not the person she's known since they were younger. She wrote Glenn's...did she think she was dead?

_Some faith she had _Beth mumbles internally. She feels her eyes narrow and if her glare could melt glass it would be rolling down in heaps on the side of the truck. Nat looks over and sees Beth's glare outside and her brow furrows.

"What's wrong?" she asks softly. Nat may be a hardass, but she didn't like seeing people mad or sad. Beth looks over and sees her worried look, and she shakes her head, crossing her arms.

"It's nothing. Just a bit peeved." Natalie raises an eyebrow and turns back to the road.

"At what? The world?" Beth looks back out the front and bites her lip.

"You could say that," she mutters. She couldn't believe that her sister didn't write her name, that she didn't believe she was alive. That was fucked up, and all the anger she felt firing through her felt so weird but at the same time really right. She hadn't been this mad in such a long time. "Just...pissed off."

"Yeah, I get like that sometimes." Beth bites her lip and looks at Nat with worried eyes.

"Nat, do you really think we'll find my people?" Nat smiles.

"Loosing hope on me?" Beth looks away and shrugs, while Nat's smile shrinks down to a small grin.

"Look, I know we'll at least find something from your old group. We'll find some of them. Don't you worry. I made a promise." Beth smiles and nods, looking back out the window just in time to see a recked up car and an unconscious body on the ground. On a quick further inspection, Beth's eyes widen and she bangs her hands on the dashboard, scaring the shit out of Nat, who jumps in her seat. "Jesus Beth!"

"STOP THE CAR!" she screamed. Natalie hit the brakes as hard as she could, sending all of them flying, the three people in the back moving towards the front and both the two woman being lurched forward. As soon as the car stops, Beth opens the door and speeds out, her hair flying behind her.

"Beth!" Nat yells, unbuckling her seatbelt. Patrick groans and steps to the front.

"What the fuck just happened?" he grinds out. Nat shrugs her shoulders.

"Your guess is as good as mine." She steps out of the car and goes behind the truck where Beth was leaning over the unconscious body. Nat glares at the blonde. "Beth! What the hell was that?!"

"I need help!" she chokes, her voice strained from trying to help the man. Nat stomps over to her, her eyes a blaze.

"Beth, you nearly fucking kill-Oh my God," she whispers, seeing how Beth was fussing over the man. "Is this Daryl?"

"He's alive!" Beth exclaims, looking up at Natalie with hopeful eyes. "He's okay! We need to get him to the truck!"

"Beth what the hell happened to him? He's all bruised up! Is he...bit?" Beth shakes her head, bringing her hands under the mans arms to try and lift him up.

"No, I checked. Please, Nat!" She was pleading with Natalie, and who was she to complain?

"Patrick! Girls! Get out here!" The three rub their heads and look outside, seeing the two girls beginning to lift a body into the truck. Patrick is the first to go and help them.

"Is this...?"

"Yup," Nat states quietly, looking at a worried Beth, but she knew inside the girl was probably screaming with joy.

**~%~**

He swore he was in heaven.

That was all Daryl thought. He felt someone humming, soft hands on his face, and multiple people looking down at him. His head hurt, his body hurt, and he had no clue where the fuck he was, but for some reason it felt better then being out on the road in the middle of God knows where Georgia. He barely remembered anything about what had happened.

That is until he opened his eyes and saw five faces staring worriedly down at him, four of which he didn't know, and one very, _very _familiar. His eyes widen and he tries to lean up, but one of the hands on his face pushes him back down onto the ground.

"Beth?" he whispers incredulously. Beth smiles softly, but still kept firm pressure on him to keep him from getting up.

"Yeah, it's me," she replies quietly. Only for a second does he let his eyes wonder to the other people before going straight back to Beth.

"Who are they?" he asks. Natalie smiles at Beth and places a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm Natalie. The guy is my step-brother Patrick, and the two girls are Alice and MK." They all wave at him individually, some offering smiles, but Beth smiles the brightest out of all of them.

"They saved me, Daryl. They're okay." She knew she had to add on that last part for good measure, as she could still feel the tenseness in his body looking at them. He didn't trust anyone anymore, but maybe that would help him calm down a bit. Successfully, he leaned back and looked back up at Beth, feeling a bandage around his head.

"What the hell happened?" he mutters. Beth shrugs.

"Found you lying on the side of the road. Nearly gave me a heart attack. Gettin' into trouble again?" He snorts, letting out a ghost of a laugh.

"Ya know me by now," he mumbles. Natalie squeezes Beth's shoulder and looks to the others, nodding at them to get the hell out of the truck. They read the sign easily, one by one leaving.

"We're gonna peruse the area. Looks like we're not moving at all." Beth nods while Natalie gets up, being the last one to jump out of the truck. Beth looks back to Daryl and finds him still trying to lean up. She rolls her eyes.

"God, you're stubborn." She gently helps him up onto the walls of the truck and looks at his bandage, which was slightly covered in blood. Daryl watched her hands move to his head, still in shock to see her alive and standing in front of him. She bites her lip worriedly, pulling back. "That's gonna need changing in the morning and we don't have anymore supplies. We're gonna have to make a stop at some pharmacy to g-"

"Ya cut yer hair," he says quietly, looking at the short locks on her head. She looks at him confused for a second before her face heats up and she looks away a bit.

"Well, yeah. Natalie said I should wear it down more often and I was worried about walkers, so she decided to cut it for me. Does it look...good?" She asks unsurely, wondering if he would even reply to such a stupid question, but he did, only with a simple 'mm hmm,' but it was an answer all the same, and she took what she could get with this man. Changing the subject, she puts a serious look on her face. "Do you remember anything? How you ended up on the road?"

"I...uh," he stutters. His hand scratches the back of his head in slight embarrassment, and Beth could only wonder what the hell he was bent up about. "I saw a car that had the same cross on the back of it, and I followed it with Carol. Once we got to the city...that's a whole blur," he mutters crisply. "I 'member Carol gettin' taken by the same hospital people, and being chased down by one of 'em. How I ended up on the road I have no idea." Beth sighs and leans back on her feet, her hands in her lap.

"What about before you saw the car? Did you find the group?" He nods, but she could see some sourness in his reply.

"We did. Found some bad people too." She furrows her brow when she sees the slightly sullen look on his face.

"Did people die? Is Judith okay?" she asks hurriedly, a million questions being fired out.

"Bad people did," he replies. "And yeah, she is." Beth sighs thankfully.

"Thank God," she mumbles. She didn't think she could live with herself if she found out Judith was gone. He looks up at her at this and sees her change in clothes, and the cast on her arm.

"Ya hurt yer arm?" he asks, taking the piece of plastic into his hands. She shrugs.

"That's what the people at the hospital said. It's getting a bit soiled. Might take it off soon. I don't really need it." She pulls her arm back and sits next to him on the side of the wall. You would have thought this would have been awkward, but to be honest, Beth was fine with this reunion. In her mind, she had pictured the whole group being around them, and that would have made it weird, considering they were along for a little while. Right now, in the back of a truck while the others gave them alone time, was fine with her.

"Ya didn't ask about yer sister," he points out. Beth lets out a slow sigh.

"I...saw a sign. She didn't care about me. She thought I was dead, thought I couldn't survive. She told Glenn to go to Terminus, but I don't even want to go." Daryl snorts lightly.

"Place is gone now anyway. Went there. Not great." She looks up with a questioning gaze, but she sees him looking down at the floor, so she drops the issue. She bites her lip again. She did that a lot now.

"Do you know where our group is?" she asks. He shrugs again.

"We were at an old church in the forest, but I aint got a clue where I am or where we are." He felt annoyed at himself for just leaving his group without a single word, but now he had no idea where the fuck they were or how to get back to them. He looks outside and sees the guy circling the permitter yards away from the truck. "They save ya?" he whispers. She nods.

"Yeah. They did. They're good." He looks down at her and sees the sincerity and brightness in her eyes that he had gotten used to before she was taken, and knew that she was right.

"Guess they're good to me too," he mumbles. She smiles up at him and send him to hell if it didn't make him feel like he could touch the fucking stars. He looks away quickly to prevent her from seeing the red in his face, and she frowns slightly before looking back outside. A thought struck her head and she grins.

"So Mr. Dixon...did you miss me when I was gone?" The memory of that night nearly made him laugh, but he simply looked at her and nodded lightly.

"More than ya know," he says quietly. She smiles for a moment before smirking and looking back outside.

"I knew it." He quirks an eyebrow at her, a half smile on his face now.

"Looks like that new style came with a new batch of sass," he mumbles. She chuckles.

"I'm full of surprises," she says softly, looking at the bandages on his head. "Sleep. You're gonna need it." He opens his mouth to protest but she raises a hand. "Dixon, get to sleep before I knock ya out." He raises his hands in mock defense and closes his eyes, all while she laughs before lowering her voice to a quiet sound. "Don't worry. I'm not going anywhere," she says softly, placing her hand on his own, giving it a soft squeeze.

It wasn't until a few minutes later she felt him return to gesture with his own squeeze. "Better not be," he mumbled. She smiled and closed her eyes, satisfied with that answer.

**~%~**

**Review please? :) Luv ya!**


	3. Saving Carol

**I just want to say that I got a lot of hateful guest reviews for this story because of how I left Carol in the hospital. This chapter, which was planned out after the reunion, solves all that. **

**Thanks to all the nice reviews that didn't make me feel like shit when I already do most of the time, and how writing helps me but apparently not in this case. Hope you people enjoy :) **

**Hope this satisfies some people. **

**~%~**

The next morning, Beth was the first to wake up and see everyone else was asleep except for Natalie, who was on watch outside. After last night, Beth had hit the hay first, as all the energy had been drained out of her from the day previous, and slowly everyone had gotten to sleep. The only person who hadn't taken a shift in watching was Beth and Daryl, and Beth knew exactly why they didn't let her go. When she was going to get confirmation of that, she didn't know, but she knew it.

Beth leans up on the truck floor and looks down at a peacefully sleeping Daryl, who looked at ease. Her version was that he wasn't fidgeting and was lying still on the ground. She smiles at the sight of him, but frowns when she remembers the hospital, and how she had practically been pushed, almost forced into leaving without Carol.

She hadn't meant to leave without her. Beth was never like that, especially with family, and Carol was that. She had been planning a way out for the both of them before Natalie came and brought her to the room. Literally only three minutes later she was running for her life. If they had just stayed there just a little bit longer, she could have convinced them to let Carol come, to find a way to get her out and keep her alive.

The guilt was endless. She knew Carol was okay, that she was breathing, but the fact that she just left her made her feel like shit. She was so high on adrenaline from the rush of everything she hadn't even spared a glance back at the place, just happy to have gotten out. Now, all she wanted to do was go back and bring Carol with them.

"I'm so stupid," she mutters, bringing her hands to her face. She rubs the sleep from her eyes and looks out into the bright light of the new morning. Everyone else was asleep. She looks back down at Daryl and back outside a few times, before sighing harshly and standing up quickly, taking a gun from the pile in the back and a few packs of ammo, placing them in her pocket. At this, a thought crosses her mind.

Daryl hadn't asked about Carol, or where she was. His head must have gotten really fucked up. He knew she was taken, but didn't bother to look around to see if she was there with her. Maybe it was because Beth was there, that she was alive and standing, but thinking that was stupid, and selfish, and she already felt more quilt piling onto her at this thought. She really was inconsiderable, wasn't she?

Carol was family. Family sticks together.

_No one gets left behind. _That was what Natalie had said. If that was the case, Beth had just broken the golden rule, and she felt all her instincts from back at the prison and before kick in, all the happiness and energy gone, and she had one thought in mind, and that was to get back with Carol safely.

She climbs out of the truck quickly and quietly, looking up at the two dangling feet hanging off of the edge of the truck. The end of a rifle was sticking out and Natalie was looking around for walkers to kill at any moment and at every angle. Beth steps below her and places her hands on her hips.

"Hey," she says simply. Nat looks down and smiles at her.

"Mornin' Beth," she replies. Beth looks up and realizes something. While she was being taken care of, getting a 'makeover' and a haircut, Carol could be in pain, or getting hurt, and it was all because she was being so immature and selfish. Beth glares down at the ground and Nat frowns. "What's wrong now? We found-"

"I'm going back," she states flatly. Nat's eyes widen and she jumps down from the truck as Beth begins to walk away.

"Wait, wait, wait!" she yells, grabbing Beth's arm. "What are yo-"

"I'm not staying if not everyone is here! We leave no one behind!" Beth whispers fiercely. Nat outs her arms out to the side.

"We have everyone!"

"No we don't! That woman I wanted to bring is still there! I'm not leaving her behind!" She storms off again but Nat grabs her arm once more.

"Beth, you're just tired and-"

"I'm not tired!" Beth snaps. "I'm pissed off at myself! While I was getting made over for whatever reason, my friend, my fucking family is back in that hell hole! I'm done with just sitting on my ass! I'm going back, and not you, or Daryl, or anyone here is going to stop me from where I want to go! I'm saving her, and that's that." The last way she said it came out more as a growl than a command. She rips her arm away and starts to walk down the path.

"You're not going to make it far!" Nat yells at her.

"Don't care," Beth mumbles. Nat didn't stop.

"You don't even have a car!"

"I'll find one!" Beth grinds out. She was done with all the excuses that Nat was trying to give her. She knew all of this wouldn't stop until she got Carol out safely or died trying. She knew Daryl would freak out when he found out she was gone, but she was who she was, and she needed to get Carol. She already felt terrible.

Nat sighs and runs over to Beth. "Wait!" she yells, running in front of the younger girl. Beth narrows her eyes at Nat, but the older girl raises her hands in a sigh of defense. "Look, I'm...I'm not gonna let you go by yourself. I know how to hot wire a car. Just...let me wake up Patrick." Beth watches Nat run back to the car and shake her brother awake, who looks up and smirks at her.

"Morning, Sleeping Beauty," he mumbles. She rolls her eyes.

"Patrick, you need to stay here." He furrows his brow and leans up.

"What's going on?" he mutters. Nat sighs.

"Beth wants to go back for the woman we left behind. Says she's family. I'm going with her." Patrick's eyes widen and he sits up straight.

"Wait, what? She can't go! You guys don't have a car! What about that Daryl guy? He'll freak out when he sees she's gone!" Nat looks back to Beth, who was impatiently waiting.

"Look, I don't want to lose her. Girl's good with a gun. If we have to go save this woman to keep her here, I'll do it. Just don't drive off and tell the others were we went. If we don't come back my sunset...you go on. Find somewhere safe. We might be gone." Patrick looks at her worriedly.

"What if you can't get back?" he whispers.

"It's a straight road. We'll be fine if we make it out," she mumbles. "Take care of them, Patrick. Don't let him freak out," she mutters, gesturing towards the still passed out Daryl. Patrick sighs and nods, pushing Nat softly towards Beth.

"Stay safe, little sister," he mumbles. She grimaces and nods, turning away and walking towards the blonde who had her arms crossed.

"Let's go," Nat mutters, refilling her rifle. Beth's brow furrows as she walks next to her.

"You didn't have to come."

"No one faces that place alone." That was the last thing muttered as they walked along the rising sun, Patrick staring at their backs as they left.

**~%~**

It took them four hours to even locate a car, and another half of one to hot wire it, all while Beth killed any walker that came by them. Afterwards, they had driven about another three hours to get back to the city, and Nat had said that the four hours they wasted in trying to find a car would have taken an hour if they did have one. Total, it would have been a four hour car trip, but instead it had been a seven hour journey.

Beth didn't care to be honest. She never thought she would be glad to be back in the city, but now she was keeping her eyes peeled outside of the old Toyota they were driving and looking at the many walkers in the city, roaming aimlessly on the ground, looking for flesh to eat. When the car would pass them, or run over a walker on the ground, the others would turn and begin to follow the car, but Nat drove hard and fast, and the car was too fast for the dead pieces of walking bodies.

"Where is the hospital?" Beth asks tentatively. Nat narrows her eyes and looks further.

"A few blocks. We can't just drive up. They'll kill us. We meed to park here." She pulls over to an old parking lot and goes to the top level as fast as she could so the walkers wouldn't follow them and would probably give up and go to the next pair of people who drove by. When they reach the top, Nat and Beth step out with their guns drawn, looking around for any walkers on the top floor, but thankfully there were none. Nate sighs and begins to go to the stairs. Beth glares at her.

"What are you pissed off about?" Nat drops her shoulders.

"Beth, I don't even know this woman! It was your choice to leave her behind!"

"I barely had a choice!" Beth exclaims. Nat's eyes widen and she looks around.

"Keep it down! Do you want to attract every walker in the area?" she asks. Beth hardens her glare.

"It was barely my choice, and if I did, I would have stayed. The only reason why I went was because I was in the moment of getting out. I shouldn't have come. She's my family. I'm not going to just let her go." Nat sighs and shakes her head.

"Beth, I have a bad feeling about this."

"You don't know her. Stop judging." The bluntness of the statement threw Nat off as Beth made her way to the stairs. As she made it to the bottom, she kicks open the door and sees walkers turn their heads, their direction now being changed as they saw the couple of them get out. Nat fires first, her shot going into the walkers head, and that set Beth off as she fired the first shot of hers.

They kicked and pushed to get through to the other side, keeping their weapons up and ready. Nat kept her head down and kept her eyes peeled as they walked through the streets steadily, looking at the hospital across from the white building. In the courtyard as they passed, Beth saw that there was a small fire burning, and there were burned up and wrapped bodies surrounding them, one within the fire.

"What the hell is that?" Beth mutters. Nat shakes her head.

"Who the hell cares? We're moving on." Nat keeps going and runs into the fences of the hospital, making sure Beth was right behind her. Luckily, the sun had started to go down, so there were shadows that Nat ran to as she saw guards look in their direction. Beth stayed behind her, every fiber in her body alive as she looked at the nearest entrance to the building and sprinted towards it. Nat's eyes widen. "What the hell are you _doing_?" she hisses quietly.

"Saving my friend!" she mouths back, running inside. Where she was, no one was working, at least at the moment, so she makes her way steadily down the hall. Instead of using her gun, she places it into her holster and takes out her knife, realizing that it might be easier for her to hold and easier for her to kill if anyone got in her way. A moment later, she hears Nat run up to her with her eyes narrowed and her knife pulled out as well.

"What the fu-" Beth places her hand on her mouth and tells her to shut up. Nat opens her mouth to try and take off her hand, but two voices stopped her. Both recognized one of them.

"Have you looked at that new woman who came in?" an unknown voice says. "I heard she woke up. Has some pretty bad bruises."

"I was gonna check on her soon. Need to-" Beth and Nat jump out from the shadows and pull the two figures into the nearest room, them struggling against there tight grip. Nat locks the door as Beth throws Dr. Edwards to the ground, who backs up against the wall. She holds his throat to the wall and aims her gun right near the edge of his neck. His eyes widen and she sees the panic in his eyes, but at the moment she didn't care.

"Where the hell is Carol?" Dr. Edwards shakes his head.

"I don't know who you're talking about!" he exclaims.

"Nat!" Beth yells at the girl. Nat uses one swift movement and breaks the guys neck she was holding, and he falls to the ground, dead in a heap. Dr. Edwards struggles even more, but Beth kept a firm hold on his body. "Want to tell us now? Where is that woman?!"

"Third door at the other end of the hallway!" he chokes out. Beth lets him go and he coughs up, leaning down on the floor. Nat looks at Beth's face and sees the distaste on it, and before she could say anything, Beth picks up her foot and kicks Dr. Edwards head, knocking him unconscious. Nat's eyes widen.

"Beth," she whispers. Beth walks past her and out to the hallway.

"We need to go." She didn't stop walking, keeping her gun out now. Nat follows her wordlessly, still in shock over what the young girl just did, but didn't speak, knowing that Beth would probably freak out on her again. Beth walks to the third door and opens it, seeing three unknown people inside and Carol on a bed, her clothes still on. She was awake, and her eyes widened.

"Beth?" she asks, not believing she was here. One of the men raised his gun at Beth, knowing that this was the girl who got out, but Beth shoots him quickly. Nat gets the other and Beth ends the last, walking over to a gawking Carol, who was confused. "Beth, they-"

"They're bad people, Carol. Bad people. You're coming with us." Carol didn't need another word and nodded, standing up and walking next to Beth, who looks to Nat. "This is Natalie. She got me out of here the first time." Carol's brow furrows.

"The first time?" Beth sighs.

"I'll explain all of that. We need to go." Guards started to see them and Beth's eyes widen. "And we need to go now."

**~%~**

When he woke up, Daryl looked around the place and didn't remember a single fucking thing. All he saw was three bodies sitting outside on the edge of the truck, talking quietly, and four walls to the floor. He leaned up slowly and looked to see who the people were, but saw that not one of them was Beth.

"Where's Beth?" he asks. All three of them go rigid and the girls stand up. Patrick looks at them with wide eyes.

"What the fuck, guys?"

"Sorry, Pat. This is your territory." The two girls walk to the front and Patrick turns around in the truck, only to meet an angry looking Daryl, who had somehow stood up.

"Mind tellin' me?" he growls at Patrick. The younger man puts his hands up in defense.

"Dude, it is not my fault." A million thoughts ran though his head when the younger man said that, and Daryl's eyes narrow painfully at the man. Seeing he wasn't making this better, Patrick continues nervously. "Look, Beth left a woman back at the hospital and she felt guilty, so she and Nat went back to get her. I don't know when they're coming back, or how they're going to get back, but that's all I know." Daryl's eyes widen in anger and shock.

"And ya let 'em!?" he exclaims, angrily pushing Patrick out of the truck. He had planned on going back for Carol as soon as he woke up the day prior, but the fact that Beth was alive and in front of him stopped him in his tracks. But now she was gone?! _Again? _"They don't even have a fuckin' car!"

"Nat knows how to hot wire one, man! They'll be fine!"

"Ya don't fuckin' know that!" If Daryl had his crossbow, he would have shot the shit out of this guy, but sadly, that had been destroyed. How, he still couldn't remember, but thenext best thing he had was his hand.

So he used it.

He punched the guy straight across his mouth and Patrick lurched back, holding his face in his hands, breathing deeply to calm the head rush he was getting. After a moment, he turns back to Daryl and raises an eyebrow.

"Better?" he gets out through the pain. Daryl glares at the man and turns around to head back into the truck, but Patricks voice stops him. "Dude, it wasn't Natalie's idea to go back! Beth wanted to! She felt guilty about this. We left the woman at the hospital for God's sake."

"I was plannin' on goin' back," Daryl growls. "If they just waited a bit-"

"If they waited the woman would probably be dead, or raped, or eaten, or worse. You should be thankful they went for them, considering you were on your broken ass yesterday. We found you on the side of the road, man! You were out cold! There was no way you would be able to go and get that woman. Or stop the two." Daryl shakes his head and looks away, rubbing his face.

"This is such bullshit," he snaps. "Such fucking bullshit." Though curse words were being said outside, his mind was saying other things. _What if they get back and Carol is dead? What if the car breaks down? What if _Beth _was dead? _

He sits on the edge of truck and places his head in his hands, breathing heavily. Patrick slowly approaches the man and sits down a few feet away, still holding his face.

"Look, if it makes things any better, Natalie wouldn't let them die. I think your girl will be fine, and so will this woman." Daryl's eyes widen slightly and he looks at Patrick, barely glancing at him.

"She..she aint my girl. Just a friend," he mumbles. Patrick raises an eyebrow at him and snickers to himself, shaking his head.

"Sure. Sure she's not. And I'm not gay. That's very true. God, you're such a liar." He stands up from his spot on the truck and walks to the front, while Daryl watches him leave, his anger still at a boiling point, but all he felt deep down was worry and pain. He had just found both of them, and now they might both be lost again.

"Motherfucker," he groans into his hands.

**~%~**

They had made it to the car, and now they were deep into their four hour drive, nearly near the camp site they had set up. Nat was sleeping in the back, tired from waking up early and going on this mission. Granted, Nat had started them off in the trek back, but after they had gotten a good enough distance from the city and from the shit ton of guards that had been following them, Beth had happily traded so that Nat could rest.

She had just met the girl, but she knew that she had done a lot for her in the past couple of days. She deserved to rest. While she slept, Beth made herself busy by reconnecting with Carol, who seemed okay to say the least. She had a couple of bruises, a few cuts, bit nothing major. She didn't look like she had been slapped or raped or even close to being killed. Maybe Beth had gotten there just in time.

"For a while it was me and Tyreese with baby Judith," Carol said, looking down at the ground, remembering Lizzie and Mika. She knew right now wasn't the time to talk about it. Beth's eyes widen.

"You kept Judith safe?" Carol shrugs.

"Really, it was Tyreese. That Terminus place I took down, and while I was gone, Tyreese kept her protected. It was happy when her and the family got back together." Beth smiles.

"I could only imagine. What happened afterwards? Daryl didn't really tell me much." Carol's eyes widen hopefully.

"You found Daryl?" she asks, her voice full of shock.

"Yeah, but we found him passed out on the side of the road. Had a gash in his head. Didn't really remember stuff last night." Carol's look turns to a concerned one.

"Jesus," she mutters. "Well, we found this old church." Beth nods.

"That he told me."

"We were out one night and he saw a car that had the same markings as the car who took you."

"Told me that too."

"We chased it down to Atlanta and tried to get into the hospital, but we got caught. They took me in and chased him out. He got away in a car because if he even tried to get into the hospital he would have been shot on the spot. I guess they fucked him up enough that he nearly got killed at one point. He must have gotten into a car crash. God, is he okay?" Beth hears the worry in her voice and couldn't help but wonder if him and Carol were together. It wouldn't be weird. They were really close. She would just be disappointed, no matter how childish that sounded.

"He's better now. He doesn't know I left though." Carol leans back in the seat.

"He might be mad about that." Beth shrugs.

"Then we'll deal with it then. I wanted to get you back." She spares a glance down at her feet and bites her lip. "Carol, when I said I got out, I did, but it was when you were there. You have to understand, I wanted to get you and leave. I was thinking of a way for both of us to leave, but these people barely gave me a choice but to come, and I couldn't convince them to let you come. Before I could even think of that, I was already knee deep in the plan, and all the adrenaline was running and I forgot and...I just feel so guilty, Carol. I didn't want to leave you. I wanted to take you with me."

"It's fine, Beth," Carol reassures. "I understand. You looked beat up anyway. You were probably hurt more than I ever would because of how you look." _Understatement of the year _Beth thinks inwardly, remembering how Gorman had nearly raped her. She hadn't told Daryl that, and probably never would.

"I just...I'm sorry for leaving you. I'm so sorry." Carol smiles.

"It's fine sweetie. I know you're not one to leave people behind, but when you get into the rush it's hard to think. I would know. I'm still alive, aren't I?" Beth smiles back. True. She was. "Worry about Daryl. He's gonna be pissed off." Beth sighs, seeing the truck lights on ahead.

"We're here." She stops the car a few yards away from the truck and sees Patrick stand up with a gun. Always on guard. Beth turns around and shakes Nat, who rolls over. "Natalie, we're back."

"I need more sleep," she moans, but gets up regardless. Beth rolls her eyes and steps out of the car, Carol following afterwards. Patrick places his gun down and runs over to the three of them. He smiles at Carol.

"You must be Carol. Glad to see you're alive. This girl was freaking out." Carol offers a small smile in return.

"Thanks. You're..."

"Patrick," he finishes. Natalie looks closer at him and sees the giant bruise on his face.

"What happened, man?" she asks quietly. Patrick's brow raises in questioning, but he realizes she was taking about the bruise.

"Oh this? This is the reaction Daryl gave me when I told him you left," he says, pointing at Beth, who blushes as Natalie laughs.

"See, I said he would be mad. Where is he anyway? And the girls?"

"Alice and MK went fishing somewhere, and Daryl went out on a hunt with one of the rifles. Because of when he left and how angry he was, he should be back in three, two, one..." The man was on point, as Daryl walked out of the trees at that moment, his gun in one hand a bunch of animals in the other. He looks at Patrick first before seeing Natalie, and then Beth, along with Carol. He drops his animals in the truck and storms over.

"The hell, Beth?!" he exclaims. She doesn't flinch. She knew he would be mad. "Ya just leave and don't tell us? With someone ya barely _know?" _Natalie crosses her arms.

"Excuse me, I got her out." Daryl glares at Natalie.

"Stay out of this, girl," he growls. She holds her hands up and walks away, Patrick following in suit, knowing this was gonna get heated. "Beth, ya can't do shit like that! I was gonna go back for her!" Beth rolls her eyes.

"Daryl, you were out cold. You weren't in any condition to go back there and you still aren't. Carol might have been in trouble if we waited until you were done healing. I did the right thing." Daryl turns to Carol and sees she had an eyebrow raised at the scene. Seems she had missed a lot in her absence from the group.

"Are ya okay?" he asks quietly. Carol nods.

"I'm fine, Daryl. These two saved me. No need to be angry. She's tough. Just like you said." Beth looks at Daryl with her own raised eyebrow, but he was still looking at Carol with concerned eyes.

"Ya sure? No gashes or shit like that?"

"No, Daryl. I'm okay." Daryl nods before looking away.

"Fucking assholes chased me down," he mumbles. Carol places a hand on his shoulder.

"Daryl, I don't care. You're safe and we're safe. That's all that matters. Finding our way back to the group, however, is a mystery to me." Daryl snorts.

"Aint gotta clue. Ya hungry? Got some food." Carol crosses her arms.

"Anything other than the food you caught? I'm sort of sick of squirrels." He glares playfully.

"It's rabbit today. And yeah. There's some fruit in there. Picky." Carol chuckles and goes to the truck, where Natalie and Patrick sat and waited, smiling at her. Daryl turns back to Beth and lets out a low breath. "Why'd ya go and save her?" he whispers.

"Cause I left her behind, and no one gets left behind, especially family. I'm not like that. You know." He sighs and looks back at Carol, who was talking with Patrick and Natalie.

"Yeah, I know," he mutters. He realized he was stupid in thinking that he could get to Carol in time to save her, just like he thought when Beth was taken. It had been that situation all over again. "Just...don't do that shit again. Runnin' off and not tellin' me. Don't like that shit." She smiles softly.

"I won't." She looks back at Carol and bites her lip again. "Do you think we'll ever find our group?" she murmurs. "I mean, where the hell could they be?"

"Someone said they wanted to go to Washington," he replies quietly. "We might be able to connive 'em to go." Beth nods.

"That's the best chance of seeing them." She looks back to him and nods towards the truck. "Come on, you got an apology to do." He snorts.

"To who?"

"Patrick. You nearly smashed his face in. What are you, the Hulk?" _When yer taken _he thinks internally. He shakes his head and follows her back.

"Whatever. Don't expect anything good." She smiles again.

"I'm not expecting much, just for you to get down on your knees and beg for his forgiveness." When he looks at her with a confused expression, she laughs. "Kidding, Dixon."

**~%~**

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	4. To Washington DC

**Thanks for all the reviews and followers! Ya'll are amazing! **

**Now lets move on with the story, shall we?**

**~%~**

The next day came bright and early for the small group. The truck was still in it's place as it had been for the past couple of days, stationary in the middle of the road in God knows where Georgia. They hadn't moved a single muscle, didn't have the need to, and the group was fine with that. Well, at least Nat and her friends were. They had been the hospital for three months and it felt good to breath free air and not be treated like a prisoner.

Beth and Daryl, on the other hand, were wary of the fact that their group was somewhere. They may not be close or may not be far, but they both knew one thing, and that was that they were heading to Washington, and that was their only hope of seeing their family again.

Right now though, the sun was just rising, and the sky was on fire with red streaks. No matter how pretty it looked, Beth knew that when there were red skies in the morning something bad would happen. There was an old rhyme she learned. Red skies at night, sailors delight. Red skies in morning, sailors take warning. There was gonna be some sort of storm today.

But the group didn't mind.

Natalie was sitting with MK and Alice, and all three of them were eating old cans of peaches. happily chatting away. Patrick, surprisingly, was talking to Daryl, who ate his own food quietly, but Beth saw that some of the stuff Patrick would say would actually show interest in the crossbowers face. She didn't think anything that the man said would interest Daryl in the slightest considering Patrick was, well, gay.

Carol sat next to Beth, and she ate her food with a slightly moderate tempo, while Beth watched the three girls interact, barely touching her food. Carol looks over and see Beth's can was still half full, and her brow furrows.

"Are you not hungry?" Carol asks. Beth shrugs slightly.

"Not very much. My stomach has gotten used to the small meals, so seeing all this food that's actually not that bad is sort of a surprise." Carol nods and places her can down on the ground, having finished it. She spares a glance at Daryl and shockingly finds him talking with Patrick, who was laughing at whatever he was saying. Beth sees her looking over and her own brow furrows. "What are you staring at?"

"Daryl's never talked to random people like they were chums. What the hell?" Carol mumbles. Beth crosses her arms across her chest and stares curiously at the woman.

"Well, we did save him from the side of the road, so I guess he doesn't really mind that much, considering he was gonna die." Carol could sense the slightly irritated tone in the young girls voice, but pays it no mind. "I told him they were fine. They saved me. Maybe he's just trusting my judgement."

"Yeah, that's why I'm worried," Carol mutters. Beth had a feeling that she wasn't supposed to hear what the woman said, but she did, and she narrowed her eyes, clearly offended by the comment, but instead of getting mad about it, she stands up and heads towards the back of the truck. Carol follows her movements and opens her mouth to ask a question, but Natalie beat her to it, seeing Beth rise from the floor.

"You okay?" she asks, placing her can down. Beth looks at the questioning girl and smiles, sort of forcing it on her face.

"I'm good. Just need some air. I'll be back in a minute anyway." Natalie smiles softly and nods.

"Just keep a knife near you." Beth nods quickly and jumps off the floor, heading to the front of the truck as fast as her feet could take her. Once she reaches the front, she sits down on the ground and glares down at the floor, bringing her knees to her chest. She wasn't going to cry. She wasn't that much of an idiot anymore, but hearing Carol say that felt like a direct jab to the heart.

She didn't think that when she saved Carol she would be like this. Carol said she was strong the day previous, but now she was not trusting her sense of judgement? Natalie had helped save Carol too. It wasn't just Beth, just her intention to go back and get the woman.

"Ya okay?" Beth jumps slightly and looks up, seeing Daryl standing above her and looking down at her face with a combination of a confused and concerned expression. She sighs and nods, looking back out into the road in front of her.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just something Carol said." Daryl takes a seat next to her, though a few inches between them, and looks at her. She knew he was asking her to tell him what she said, so Beth sighs and unwraps her hands from her legs and lets them fall. "I told her that the people who saved you were good people, and she said she didn't trust my judgment. Well, she didn't say it to my face, but I heard her say it." Daryl's brow furrows and he looks away.

"Carol don't really trust people that well," he says quietly. "Aint really surprised."

"But really, my sense of judgement? I judge people well," Beth mutters. "I can't believe she would say that. I've known her for two years."

"She's been through a lot," Daryl grumbles slightly, his tone gruff.

"Haven't we all?" That phrase cut Daryl off, and he was rendered silent by the woman. She had a point, and he couldn't fight that. Everyone had been through shit, and he actually did think Carol of all people would be thankful to these people for keeping him alive, but she was still the same suspicious person that she had been for the past couple of months. "What were you talking with Patrick about?"

The sudden change in conversation caused Daryl to draw back slightly, his brow furrowing. "What?" he asks dumbly. She lets out a light giggle.

"You and Patrick before. Both of you seemed deep in conversation. I guess he's a quick forgiver, huh?" The smile on her face was so bright as she mentioned the man, and he had to turn away to prevent his own from showing up.

"Aint nothin' big. He started to talk about his life before all this. Guy can't learn to shut his mouth." Her smile widens.

"Oh really? What is his life like?" she chuckles. "He's so happy all the time. I want to know the backstory to that." Daryl shrugs, looking out to the road in front of them.

"Well, he grew up in New Jersey with a dad and that's it. Mom died early on when he was younger in car crash. Said he and Natalie's mom met when he was nine and she was the same age. Dad and mom got married a year later, and then he started to get into school. Lots of weird shit happened then when he went to a Brooklyn high school." Beth chuckles.

"Sounds like Patrick. He's a pretty cool guy. All of them are." She looks to him and sees he was staring out at the open road, and he hums in accordance, showing he agreed. She grumbles internally. This man was nothing but an endless pit of grunts and grumbles. She knocks her foot against his and he turns to her in surprise. She raises her brow. "You think they're cool, right?"

"Yeah, sure," he replies unsteadily, looking at her with a confused expression. She smiles again.

"There you go. That's what we call human conversation. Not just sounds." He rolls his eyes and looks away again while she snickers for a moment and then clams a second later. She looks behind her at the truck at hearing the laughing sounds of the girls and then turns back to Daryl. "We still have to talk to them about Washington D.C.," she mutters quietly. Daryl nods, unconsciously bringing the tip of his thumb to chew on it.

"Yeah," he mumbles. Beth looked at him thoroughly and came to the conclusion that this is what happened when he became deep in thought. She didn't mind. She actually found it attractive when she saw him think things through. It was rare that he really thought about things. He was always a spur of the moment kind of guy.

She looks back out into the road and averts her eyes back to the ground. "Do you really think that if we go we'll find them?" she asks softly. Daryl nods numbly.

"I know they're gonna head there." She lays her head against the back of the truck.

"But you're gone, and so it Carol. What if they wait for you?" Daryl looks to Beth and sees she was truly trying to put all this together. He shrugs again.

"Then they'll get one hell of a surprise when they find us," he tries to joke, but it comes out more as a grimace. She offers a half smile on her face before turning back to the road. He looks at her for a moment, really taking in how different she was. Obviously her appearance was different. Her hair was shorter, and her clothes a bit more fitting, but there was something else. She had a few bruises on her face, couple of scars here and there, but it wasn't just that that made her look stronger.

It was just her attitude about everything. She still had that same idea that there were still good people in the world, but she also had that experience with the bad, and because of that, she didn't take no for an answer. She thought of something and kept to it. She didn't stop for anyone because she was persistent, and she would probably keep that same attitude for as long as possible.

And damn him if he didn't find it amazing.

She looks back at him when she feels his stare on her and smiles softly again. "What're you doin'?" she chuckles. Through his better judgment, he feels the corners of his mouth turn up into a small smile.

"Nothin'," he replies quietly. Looking at her reminded him of that night in the funeral home, and all the unsaid words that had been interrupted when the walkers came and she was taken away from him. On that, the smile disappears and a more serious/nervous look comes over his face. His eyes look to the ground before connecting with hers. "Beth-"

"Guys!" The shrill voice of Natalie calling them broke both of the two from the intense contact, both looking away sharply. Beth looks behind her and sees Natalie coming up to them, stopping next to Beth. "We need to find out a game plan. Know where to go." Beth stands up, a bit sloppily due to the state of her mind, but does it all the same.

"Yeah, we wanted to talk to you about that," she says, gesturing to Daryl, who was still trying to reel his mind back. "Daryl, up and at 'em," she whispers harshly. At this, Daryl stands up and sort of awkwardly stands next to Beth, his arms crossed. Natalie looks between the two for a moment before shaking her head lightly and nodding at Beth to continue on. "Our old group, the one I've told you about. They're heading to Washington D.C."

"D.C.?" Patrick's voice interrupts as he walks over to the small group. "What's this about D.C."

"Safe zone there," Daryl says to him. "People, security. There was a man who said he had a cure, main mission was to get there." Patrick's brow furrows comedically, placing his hands on his hips.

"Excuse me? Did I hear you right? A cure? Bullshit! There's no cure! Did he tell you anything about it?" Natalie looks at Daryl, her arms crossed across her chest in question. Now that he thought about it, Eugene never did tell them the details of the supposed 'cure' he had.

"No, don't remember," he mumbles. That was something he could blame it on. He still had that stupid head injury. "Even if the ass doesn't have a cure, the place is still there, and that's where our group is most likely to be. Ya can have food and warmth there. Place is protected." Natalie turns to Patrick, who shrugs.

"You know what? We have nowhere to be. Might as well be looking for the rest of your group." Beth smiles and hugs the girl happily, who smiles. "Just don't get slack on me. We still need you two." Beth laughs at her statement.

"I'm not gonna. Neither is he." Daryl simply nods, looking down the road. Patrick smiles.

"Good. We're just gonna run it with the rest of the group and then we can be on our way." Beth smiles at him, and the two walk to the front of truck again. Beth turns to Daryl and smiles again.

"We're going," she says happily. He nods again, still looking down the road. She tilts her head and lays her hand on his shoulder, to which he snaps his head back to her. "You okay?" He stares for a split second before looking down and then back up. It was like he was always looking for ways to not look her in the eyes. If he did he would just lose himself.

"Yeah," he says. "I'm good." She smiles again. _It's like she never stops smilin' _Daryl thinks internally. She walks to the front and Daryl's eyes follow her, and it's then that he lets his eyes trail down her body, seeing how well the black jeans fit her, showing off her curves. He feels a twitch in his pants and he growls at himself, looking away and back down the road. _Keep it in your God damn pants, Dixon. She's barely legal, ya pervert._

_Don't mean ya don't want her _Merle's voice says, ringing clearly in his ears. _Bet ya want to take that girl and fuck her right up against the side of this truck, right in her perfect little ass. Don't care who's watchin'. Want people to know. Truth is, aint no girl like that ever gonna want ya like ya do. _

"Fuck off," he growls at the voice, walking to the front of the truck. He wasn't about to let that voice into his head right now, but for some reason he couldn't get those words out of his head. He would never be good enough for her.

**~%~**

They had been traveling for hours now, probably around eight, when the sun started to go down. From the maps that were around the area, they were somewhere in the middle of South Carolina, officially out of Georgia, which was actually something Daryl had never experienced. He remembered telling Beth that when they were in the moonshine cabin, her and her little fantasy of wanting to have a drink before she died.

Hopefully that wouldn't happen soon. He wouldn't ever let it happen. Not with him around.

But when they had crossed the border to get into South Carolina, Beth had fallen asleep, not have gotten a lot of sleep the night prior. As soon as she got permission from Natalie that it was okay for her to pass out, she was gone, and she slept like a rock, or a log, or whatever the hell it was.

Now, they were still driving, and every once and a while Beth would move her head slightly in her sleep. Patrick sat in the front with Natalie, while MK and Alice sat near the way back, talking about a book they had been reading before, something Daryl wasn't all too interested in listening too, but he didn't really have a choice, did he?

Carol sat not that near Daryl but close enough, and Daryl was close to Beth, who was sleeping peacefully. Daryl looked up at the ceiling of the truck, hearing Patrick and Natalie talk plenty, while Alice and MK whispered intently. Beth's head droops for a split second but stops in its fall, finding shelter on Daryl's shoulder.

He looks down at the girl and thinks of waking her up, but seeing her eyes closed and her breathing shallow, he couldn't find himself able to even touch her, let alone wake her up. Even in her sleep she looked like an angel, her blonde hair framing her face. She was so damn perfect, and he was lucky enough to even be in her presence let alone feel all this confusing shit for her. He had never experienced this crap. Sure, sexual wanting's he's gotten, plenty of them, but with emotions attached? Never.

It was a foreign concept to him, and it scared the shit out of him. If he lost her, he would lose his mind.

"Daryl?" a curious voice says. He breaks out of his thoughts and looks to Carol, who was looking at him confusedly. "Are you and her...together?"

"Nah," Daryl says, looking back down at Beth. The words he said were true, but _fuck_ did he not want them to be, and he felt ashamed for that. "Just close." Carol crosses her arms, looking like she was about to say something, but the truck stops slowly, it's wheels halting in it's movements. At the suddenness, Beth opens her eyes slowly and looks around, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She lifts her head unknowingly off Daryl's shoulder and looks around.

"What happened?" she asks groggily.

"Don't know," Daryl grunts out. "What's goin' on?" he asks Natalie and Patrick. Natalie pushes the clutch unsuccessfully while Patrick groans.

"Ran out of gas." Natalie looks at Patrick and nods, stepping out of the car. "We're gonna go and find a gas station. You guys keep a lookout on the truck. We'll be back soon." Patrick climbs out of the door and takes off after Natalie. Beth groans and stands up. MK smirks at her.

"Have a nice nap, Sleeping Beauty?" Beth sticks her middle finger up at MK, who laughs at her reaction. Beth jumps out of the truck and Daryl stands up, following her closely behind. Carol watches him go and Alice chuckles at her.

"Man, that must suck. Watching a guy you like follow another girl." Carol shakes her head.

"No, Daryl and I are just friends. Nothing more." MK snorts.

"Yeah, right." The two girls walk out and Carol narrows her eye at them. She already knew that. She knew Daryl liked Beth. It was obvious. She just let it go.

Or at least was trying to.

As she walked outside, Beth stood near the front and took a sip of a water bottle she had picked up, and Daryl walks next to her. She was staring into the woods in front of her.

"What ya thinkin'?" he asks. She shrugs.

"Stuff. Judith. The kids...little bit of Maggie, but not that much." Daryl could still see that she was peeved off about that, but he knew she would cool off sooner or later. Beth wasn't one to hold grudges, but for now he would just stay quiet and let her vent. "What about you? What do you think of?"

_You _he thinks instantly, but decides better not to say it. He shrugs. "Stuff," he replies, imitating her. She rolls her eyes, placing the bottle down. At that moment, a rustling from the bushes stops both of them. Daryl immediately steps in front of her and pushes her behind, aiming his gun at the object, only to see it was a human, two in fact, coming out. One of them, a man a bit older than Daryl, look Beth up and down and smirks.

"Well, aren't you a pretty thing?" he drawls out. Beth glares at the man while Daryl readies his gun just in case.

"Fuck off," he spat. At this MK and Alice come out, aiming their guns at the men, while Carol stood behind them, her gun as well pointed. The other man waves his hands and smiles.

"This is a misunderstanding. Please. All we need is a place to sleep for the night. I can keep this ass under check."

"Aint gettin' anythin' here," Daryl replies gruffly. The man sighs.

"We just need one place for the night. We've been traveling for ages. Please." He steps up and holds out his hand as a peace offering. "The names Morgan."

**~%~**

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	5. Talks and Screams

**Thanks for the new reviews and followers and favorites! Helps me get the chapters up quicker! This chapter is a continuation of the last. :)**

**~%~**

The tenseness in Daryl's eyes didn't leave as the man said his name.

"Don't care. Get the hell away from us," he hisses. Morgan sighs.

"Okay, look, we've been on the road for three months now. We're on our way to Washington D.C. and we just need a place to relax for a little while. This guy I can keep on a leash. He runs his mouth but he never does anything else. Please, just one night. That's all we ask." Beth takes out her knife just in case these people tried anything, her eyes still narrowed. She never trusted people that easily. She wasn't as bad as Carol, but when someone like this just comes along and says something like that to her, she never liked them. Never wanted them near them.

"Sir, I'm sorry but were not taking anymore people," Alice says steadily. "We don't accept easily. So I suggest you leave before this man blows your balls off." Beth had to hold in the chuckle from the comment that was begging to escape. Alice was very unfiltered, that much she knew by now. Morgan sighs one more and nods his head.

"Oka-"

"What's going on over there?" All heads turn as Natalie and Patrick come down the road steadily, two cans full of gasoline in their hands. Beth's brow furrows. Hadn't they just left a couple of minutes ago? Did they find gas that quickly?

"Just some people," MK says calmly. Natalie and Patrick step in front of Daryl, Patrick placing Daryl's gun down. Natalie smiles at the man.

"Hi, I'm Natalie. And who might you be?" she asks politely. Everyone was confused. How was Natalie being so nice to this guy?

"Morgan, and the man with me is Walter. Look, Walter said something that threw these people off. I'm sorry about that. He doesn't have a muzzle for what he says. But we've been traveling for such a long time and we need some place to rest, just for the night. We're not asking for food. We just need a place to sleep." Natalie looks at Patrick worriedly and he nods, jumping to the back of the truck.

"Well, looks like you might be staying for a little while."

"What?!" the group exclaims. Natalie rolls her eyes and looks to the group.

"Look, there isn't any gasoline in there. Wanna know why? There's a God damn heard of walkers following us right now, and we don't have time for fights, nor to make noise. I'm not gonna let someone die on my hands because of a stupid comment. We need to stay quiet and get in the truck right now, or else we are all going to die a slow and painful death. So will you shut up and get in the God damn truck?!"

The group looks at her shocked, while Beth raises an eyebrow at her small temper tantrum. Natalie breathes heavily through her nose and looks to the two strangers.

"Get in the truck. Now." The man follows the orders willingly, grabbing Walters arm and pulling him towards the back of truck. Natalie turns to the group and nods at the vehicle as she starts to hear the moans and groans from the walkers that were coming their way. "Guys, go."

Alice and MK run first, Carol following close behind. Daryl begins to leave but looks to see Beth wasn't following inside. She stood in front of Natalie with a concerned look on her face.

"What about you?" Natalie rolls her eyes at Beth's concern.

"I'll be fine. Patrick and I will just hide in the from seats. Just get in the back and stay quiet," she chides. Beth sighs and nods, turning around and finally following Daryl into the back. The grunts of the dead grew louder and louder as everyone climbed into the truck and closed the top. Everyone spread out into corners of the truck and Beth along with Daryl and Carol stuck close to the front. The two strangers, sat near the door, and the girls were near the middle.

It was a tense couple of minutes as the walkers finally made their way to the truck. Their grimy hands would scrape against walls of the truck, but nothing more. Something told Beth that the herd was a lot bigger than she thought, and they would be in their for a long time.

"I hate those fucking things," MK mumbles into her knees as she placed them against her chest. Alice nods in agreement.

"I think everyone does," she mutters. She looks to the strangers and nods towards Morgan. "Think we're gonna be in here for a while. How about you guys talk? Maybe then we'll let you stay after they all pass." Morgan looks at the girl curiously for a second, but realizes that if he didn't talk they would probably nuke his ass, walkers or not.

"Well, start of this I was taking shelter in a house in this small town. Been so long barely remember the towns name. Think it was King's County." Daryl's brow furrows. He briefly remembered Rick mentioning that town once, but the fact that this guy was there had to be just a coincidence.

"Never even heard of it," Alice remarks quietly. Walter chuckles.

"I know, right?" Morgan glares at the man, telling him to be quiet.

"Had a boy. Name was Duane. We were taking shelter in this house, and one day there was this man who came stumbling up onto the grass. He was disoriented, so disoriented, that my boy hit him hard on the head with a baseball bat. Later we found out he had just woken up from some sort of coma. Name was Rick. Rick Grimes."

"No shit," Daryl states. Morgan looks at him confused, while Daryl stares at the man. "We knew him. All of us," he says, gesturing to Beth and Carol. Morgan's brow raises in surprise.

"Really?" he asks, his voice slightly higher. Daryl nods sharply. Beth decides to continue, since Daryl looked like he was still in slight shock.

"Yes. He's a good man, kept us alive. Had a lot of problems for a little while, but he's smart, and quick. We've known him for a while now." Morgan hums appreciatively.

"Knew he would survive," he mumbles. "We brought him away from the walkers and he told us how he was looking for his family, his wife and son. Did he ever find them?" he asks Beth. She nods.

"Yeah." _Didn't turn out the way he wanted though _she thinks inwardly. Lori was dead and Carl had gone senile for a little while. Luckily, last time she saw him he wasn't that bad.

"He went off, and we went our separate ways. Duane and I traveled. He got bit," he said flatly, a haunting look coming over in his eyes. "Been without him for a long time. Saw Rick again in an old town I was staying in, with a woman and a boy." Daryl remembers when Rick had went off on that trip. It had been prior to the Governor taking the prison, a while before. He had no clue he came across this man.

"What did you do?" MK asks curiously.

"Tried to kill him. I was so delusional. He helped me a bit. Haven't seen him since then, but obviously he's still alive." He made this point by looking over at the three survivors who claimed to be a part of his group. "Was by myself again when this guy," he says, pointing to Walter with his thumb, "saved me from a bunch of biters who were following me. He may be an ass, but he keeps people safe. We've been traveling together for a while."

"And that's it?" Alice asks, her head titling. Morgan shrugs.

"That's about it. Lots of other shit, but it aint important." Daryl looks suspiciously over at the man. There was defiantly more to the story than that, but before he could even think of asking for more info, Beth placed her hand on his arm gently. He looks down at her, and she shakes her head softly.

"Not the time," she mouths. There were walkers literally outside their door. She didn't need this drama to start. Daryl looks at her serious expression and nods, looking back down at the ground. He kept his mouth shut and listened to the people talk quietly, but he said nothing. The silence was fine with him.

Beth watches the people interact curiously, seeing how Morgan talked smoothly with them, as does Walter. She wondered how on earth Morgan and Rick had even come close to seeing each other, but the story sounded true enough. Right now she couldn't really ask. She'd rather stay quiet then cause more of those walkers to know they were in there.

**~%~**

The walkers had passed slowly, much to the annoyance of Natalie and Patrick, who had to stay in the front and hide. They couldn't move or else the walkers outside would know, but luckily, none of them seemed to catch on. A few of them had looked in, but had strayed a moment later, looking for actual food the assholes could eat.

Afterwards, Natalie and Patrick had a proper talk with Morgan and Walter, and they did end up staying the night. It had been a bit tense, but everyone had gotten to sleep with the door closed, just in case anymore walkers decided to show up. In the morning, there had been a small group meeting, and because of how cooperative they had been, Natalie had decided they were going to stay, saying that the more the better, as long as they didn't fuck up.

Almost everyone had been okay with it, except for Carol, who, as always, had her trust issues, but Daryl had talked to her about it, and she had reluctantly agreed. They were already heading to Washington. Might as well head there together.

Now, it was still early in the morning, and the food they found in the old food store was starting to run low. Natalie and Patrick had set out again to find more gas for the truck, and the rest of the group stayed behind. Morgan helped Daryl and some of the girls with some repairs on the truck, while Beth sat and took innovatory of the food they had left.

"Fuck," she mutters. They barely had enough to last the rest of the day, at least for all of them. They needed to go hunting sooner or later, or else they were gonna starve. She leans down and picks up a can of pickles, smiling slightly. When she was younger, she remembered eating them on warm summer nights. The jar had always been impossible to open then. She wondered if it would be now. She wasn't gonna risk it though. They needed the food.

"Well!" The shout in the truck made Beth jump, and she dropped the can of pickles back into the bag. Spinning around, she sees Walter leaning against the side of the truck, his arms crossed and a smirk on his face. "Looks like someone was doing something they weren't supposed to be doing." She raises her brow.

"I was checking all the food." Walter snorts and leans off the walls, walking over to her.

"Yeah, sure," he snickers. "You know what? We can keep this a secret if you do something for me." Beth glares at him, taking out her knife from her belt. Walters eyes widen. "Hey, look-"

"You touch me, and I swear to God almighty I will cut off your arms and feed them to the walkers." The threat stopped Walter in his tracks, but he wasn't the only one who heard it.

"Beth?" The girl looks and sees Daryl was looking at her with a stupefied expression. She could see a mixture of impressment and amazement within it, and he helped himself up onto the floor of the truck. He spares a glance at Walter and narrows his eyes. "What's goin' on here?" he grunts out. Walter's eyes widen even more, if possible.

"Aint nothin', man. Just talki-"

"He wanted to do stuff," Beth interrupts, looking at Daryl. "But I told him off. Everything's cool now, right Walter?" She smiles at him, but Daryl could see the malicious look in it, the threat, and Walter nodded, running out of the truck at full speed to go help Morgan. She watches him leave with the same smile on her face before looking at Daryl fully. "It's not that bad. I took care of it."

"Yeah, I heard the threat," he chuckles. "Where ya learn stuff like that?" She shrugs, giving him a small smirk.

"Well, there's this man named 'Daryl Dixon.' He gave me a lot of curse words to use." Daryl rolls his eyes and looks at the food.

"How much we got?" he asks quietly. She sighs, crossing her arms.

"Not a lot. Barely have enough to last the day." She looks up at him. "We need to head out on a hunt today." He raises an eyebrow.

"We? What's this 'We' buisness?" She grins up at him.

"Well, I thought that since we didn't get to finish that tracking lesson last time, you might be able to continue." He looks outside at her words, remembering that day.

"Don't have my crossbow, though," he mumbles. She shrugs.

"Like that matters. You don't need a crossbow for tracking lessons." She takes his hand in hers, surprising him, and even more when she pulled him out of the truck and to the front. Only when she saw the rest of the group did she let go. She smiles at Morgan. "We're gonna head out to get some food. Running low. If Natalie and Patrick come back and we're still not here, just tell them that we're out." Morgan nods.

"Okay. Stay safe." Beth smiles and begins her walk into the forest.

"We will be!" Daryl stares at her shortly before Carol's hand grabs his arm, preventing him from following the blonde. He looks at at the woman with confused eyes.

"What?" he asks impatiently, knowing that Beth was getting too ahead of him. Carol tilts her head.

"What the hell? You're just going out with her to get food? You barely told anyone. It's so random." Daryl pulls his arm away and looks concerned at her.

"Because we need it," he mumbles. "Beth wanted to go out huntin'. Ya okay, Carol? Ya seem a bit tense of Beth." Carol sighs and looks at Beth, who had finally stopped and was waiting for Daryl with a raised eyebrow. She turns back to Daryl with an exasperated expression.

"Daryl, I know what you're trying to do, and I don't think this is a good thing." Daryl furrows his brow at her.

"What're ya talkin' about?"

"This little 'love story' you have going on with Beth. It's not healthy. She's only, what. nineteen? She was Hershel's daughter for God's sake. Do you think he would be okay with this?" With every word his anger grew, and at the mention of Hershel he felt his top blow at the woman.

"Hershel is dead, if ya haven't figured that shit out," he hisses at her, taking his gun into his hands. "And they're aint no 'love story' or whatever the fuck yer callin' it. We're just close. Aint nothin' to it." Carol places her hands on her hips.

"Daryl, no matter how hard you're trying to avoid it, it's obvious that you want her, but she's not gonna last long. This isn't a good thing. You may have told me she's stro-"

"Carol, she fuckin' saved ya from a hospital full of psychos!" he whispers fiercely at her. "Ya don't know shit about her!" His face was red as a tomato now, but he honestly didn't care. Beth couldn't hear what they were saying, but she could see that Daryl was getting angry.

"Come on, Daryl!" she says impatiently, her voice light. Daryl gives Carol one last glare.

"What what ya fuckin' say," he growls lowly before turning around and stalking towards Beth with a sullen look on his face. Beth looks at him concerned.

"Are you okay?" she asks. He continues to walk, barely sparing a glance at her.

"Fine. Let's go." Beth looks at Carol with a furrowed brow, but she turns back to Morgan without even looking at the girl. Beth shrugs and follows Daryl into the forest.

**~%~**

"Damn it!" Beth exclaims as she misses her shot at another bird. She pouts lowly and places her pistol back in her holster. "How come I can kill walkers but I can't kill a fucking bird?" she mutters harshly. Daryl snickers at the language, looking around for more animals to get. So far, they had gotten a few small animals, couple of squirrels and birds, but not that much, as Beth was trying hard to find her own kills, which wasn't working out that well.

"Because walkers aint fast. Birds are. Ya gotta stay quiet. Load the gun before ya find the animal." She tilts her head again, and Daryl noticed it was something she did often. If he wasn't him, he would admit that it was pretty damn cute, but after all, he was him, and he was stubborn, and he was already ashamed for even thinking that.

"What do you mean?"

"Birds can hear nearly everythin'. They hear ya reloadin' a gun and they'll take off. Ya gotta be prepared." She follows his words immediately, the sound of the gun loading another bullet ringing clear through the air. The birds in the area took off, but there were still some not that far that he heard chirping. "See, this is why I like my crossbow."

"Oh, can it pouty. We'll find you a new one, but for now this is all we got. What's next?" Her persistence amused Daryl, but he kept it at bay.

"Just stay quiet, find a bird and aim. Ya already know how to shoot a gun, just need to aim it right." She looks around and walks closer to the a bird that was resting quietly on a branch above her. She aims he gun and hide within the tall gras, pulls back the trigger, and lets it fly. Not a second later, the bird tumbles to the ground as the bullet launches itself into the animals head. Beth smiles and puts her gun away.

"I did it!" she cheers, grabbing the bird and showing it to Daryl. He smirks at her pride.

"Yeah, ya did, but it's gonna take a while to match how much I go." She drops her shoulders and rolls her eyes before sticking her tongue out at him.

"You just wait, Mr. Dixon. I'm gonna be beating you soon, and I'll be the better hunter."

"Yer a girl." She raises her brow and scoffs.

"So?"

"Aint a hunter. Yer a huntress. Ya gonna use the terms use 'em right." She brings her arms up in exasperation and looks away.

"Unbelievable!" she exclaims, placing her bird in her bag. "Can't you just be happy for me?" she pouts. He chuckles at her look.

"I'm proud, but ya gotta improve on that aim. Barely able to make that." She rolls her eyes and looks around.

"I was perfectly able to," she mumbles. She turns back to Daryl. "What we're you and Carol talking about?" she asks curiously, placing her hand on her hip. He looks away at this, pretending to look for some more game, but really feeling the words coming back.

"It was nothin'. Not important." Beth sees he was avoiding the subject, but decided to drop it, knowing that if she kept asking what he was talking about he would blow up at her. She nods, crossing her arms. A sudden thought crosses her mind and she looks at Daryl with a concerned expression.

"Daryl...do you blame yourself for me getting taken?" The bluntness of the question shocked him, but he didn't face her, didn't answer, just kept looking away, and she got her answer there and then. "Daryl, it wasn't your fault at all. Those asshole took me away. I was gonna wait for you, but there were so many, and they took me because they thought I was in distress. I don't want you to blame yourself for all of this."

"How could ya say that?" he finally says, his voice barely audible. She furrows her brow.

"What do you mean?"

"Say that it's not my fault. I was supposed to be protectin' ya, and then I fuck up and let ya get taken and then rescued by a buncha unknown people. I was supposed to keep ya safe, and I..." He couldn't finish his words, all the memories spiraling back to him in a whirlpool of emotions. Anger, hurt, pain, nervousness, every single thing he felt when he saw Beth get taken from him. She walks up to him and he feels her hand against his cheek, but he doesn't register it.

"Daryl, it's not your fault. They were fast and you weren't even outside. I don't want you to carry this on your shoulder when it's not even your fault. I'm alive and breathing, see? Nothing wrong with me."

"Those fuckers hit ya," he growls at her, looking at the cuts on her cheeks. She shrugs.

"They make me look tougher," she jokes. "Daryl, none of this is your fault. The prison being destroyed, me getting taken, even finding you on the side of the road. None of it was your fault. You're always blaming yourself for things you couldn't control, and to be frank I'm fucking sick of it. You don't deserve this torture, so stop doing this to yourself. It's not good." He looks up at her and she smiles, her eyes light, trying to make the situation better than he was making it.

He finally feels her hand on the side of his face and surprisingly brought his own hand up to cup hers. Her smile shrinks into a small grin, and she opens her mouth to say something, but the shrill sound of a small scream stops her. She pulls away and looks around the forest concerned.

"The hell was that?" Daryl asks. Beth takes out her gun as another scream echoes through the trees, and she begins to run towards the sound. Daryl's eyes widen. "Beth!" he shouts.

"That's a little girl!" she yells back, running through the woods and towards the screams. Daryl rolls his eyes and runs after Beth. _Damn girl _he growls inwardly. _Always having to be the damn hero!_

Beth runs through the woods until she sees an old and run down cabin that's door was opened, and the screams were coming directly from inside. She runs into the cabin and sees that there were three walkers crowding over a cabinet that was opened, and the screaming was coming from inside. She bangs on the wall.

"HEY!" she yells. The three turn around and growl, now starting after her. At that, Daryl came into the cabin and saw the three walkers briefly before Beth stabbed her knife into the head of one, kicks one away while she removes the knife and puts it into the other, and ducks as the third one comes at her. She grabs its head by it's decayed and falling out hair and slams it into the wall several times, letting the blood splatter on the hard, wood surface.

Daryl stares at the girl in slight shock before breaking. "Beth, ya can't just run off!" he yells at her. She ignores him and walks over to the cabinet, looking down. "Beth, are ya even listening?!" She leans to the floor and covers her mouth with her hand.

"Daryl," she whispers to him. Her voice wasn't there. It was like the wind was talking, and she was just the body it was harboring. She was so in shock. Daryl walks over to the woman and leans down to the floor, and his eyes widen at what was underneath the cabinet.

It was a little girl with light blonde hair, who was about five or six, and she had a little baby boy in her arms, dark brown, who looked not even two years old, and both were crying heavily, blood soaking their clothes.

**~%~**

**Review please? :) Luv ya! ****I love putting up these chapters! **


	6. Stopped Short

**Thanks to all the reviews, followers and favorites! Ya'll are amazing!**

**~%~**

The little girl shook as she sobbed, holding the boy close to her chest. Her eyes were closed, refusing to look at the people in front of her, while Beth stared at the pair sadly. She looks at Daryl quickly before finally speaking to the girl, nice and quietly.

"Sweetie, what's going on? What happened? Are you bit?" The soft tone in Beth's voice caused the girl to stop shaking, but the occasional sniffle and sob came out. She shakes her head, and Beth nods. "What about the boy? Is he bit?" This time the girl actually opens her small mouth to speak.

"N-no," she stutters, holding the baby close to her chest. Beth smiles gently, mentally telling the girl that she was alright now.

"Okay. What's your name, honey?" She looks at the little baby and then back at Beth.

"P...Peyton," she chokes. Beth nods again.

"What about the boy?"

"Daniel," she speaks, now a bit louder and more confidently. "He's my brother." Beth reaches out and wipes some blood off of the girls face that was dripping towards her eyes. It was still wet.

"Okay...how did you get covered in all this, sweetheart?"

"My...my group tried to protect us from the monsters," she mumbles. "The gooey stuff got on us." Beth frowns.

"And where is your group? Your parents?" Peyton looks away.

"Mommy and daddy are gone," she mumbles. "So are our people. They were eaten by one of the monsters outside." Beth looks at the little boy and sees that he had stopped crying, but his eyes were still watery, and his hair was starting to get tangled up in the messed up blood. She lets her eyes rake over the messed up clothes of the little girl and sees that around her ankle there was a bit of swelling and a big bruise surrounding that. Beth's brow furrows and she looks at the little girl wordily.

"What happened to your ankle, Peyton?"

"We were running away from the monsters and I tripped and hurt it. I think it might be sprained," she mumbles. She looks at the two in slight fear. "Are you gonna hurt us?" she whispers fearfully. Beth's brow raises and she shakes her head.

"No, not in any way. My names Beth, and this is Daryl," she says, gesturing to the man. Peyton looks up and tilts her head, and Daryl's eyes widen slightly. _Jesus, she's just like Beth _he thinks. She looked like her and did the same actions, but there was absolutely no way that Peyton could be Beth's daughter. The coincidence was just too fucking high.

"Are you going to take care of us?" Peyton asks quietly. Beth smiles softly.

"Course we are. Nothings gonna happen to you. You're safe. We just have to get that ankle fixed up." Daniel looks up from his hold on Peyton and smiles up at Beth, letting out a light giggle and reaching up for her. Beth smiles and Peyton hands him to her.

"I think he wants to see you." Beth happily takes the baby into her arms and smiles down at him. His little hand reaches up and grabs a strand of her hair, playing with it in his fingers. Beth laughs.

"Well, aren't you a cute little thing," she chuckles, taking his small hand in hers. "How old is he?"

"He just turned a year a few days ago," she replies, crawling a bit up to Beth and looking at Danny, who continued to play with Beth's hair, a dazed expression on his face. "Our mommy didn't have long hair," she says, explaining shortly why Daniel was so fascinated by Beth's hair. Beth smiles at the girl.

"I see. And how old are you?" Peyton smiles.

"Five." Beth smiles and takes the girls hand from her side, making sure that she had a firm grip on Daniel as well. Beth looks down at Peyton's ankle and bites her lip slightly.

"Do you think you can walk on that ankle, sweetie?" Peyton moves her foot one inch and instantly flinches. Beth stops her from moving anymore and chuckles. "Okay, that's a no." Beth thinks for a second and realizes that Daryl was there, and she looks up at him gratefully. "Daryl?" she asks quietly, barely even having to ask. He rolls his eyes and walks over to Peyton.

"Ok, little girl. Time to get goin'." He lifts her up easily into his arms and she giggles, wrapping her small ones around his neck. Beth smiles at the two and holds Daniel closer to her chest as she sees Peyton look at Daryl's hair with a confused look on her face. She takes a piece of it in her hands and Daryl looks curiously at her. "The heck are ya doin'?" Beth grins at the change of words for the little girl.

"Why is your hair so long?" she asks, tilting her head again. Daryl raises an eyebrow.

"Well, I don't see no scissors anywhere, so yer gonna have to deal with it," he chuckles. She smiles.

"You sound like Woody from _Toy Story_!" Beth snorts loudly at this, covering her mouth a moment later to stop the giggles that were coming out. Out of everything she had ever heard, that had to be the funniest. Daryl smirks lightly at her laughing and turns back to Peyton, who had also begun to let out a few snickers at Beth's laughing.

"Think that's funny, huh?" Peyton nods her head, a bright smile on her face.

"Mm hm," she replies. Daryl smiles small at the little girl's happiness, and realized he couldn't remember the last time he had seen a little girl smile like hers. Peyton's was bright, something that could make even the grumpiest man in the world smile. Maybe that was why he was smiling right now. So instead of making some silly comment, he shakes his head and looks at Beth.

"Cowboy, huh?" he chuckles. "I look like one?" Beth shrugs, a small smile on her face.

"Little bit," she says, holding her index finger and thumb close together. Daryl rolls his eyes at her answer. Sadly, the moment was ruined when the moans of walkers encode through the woods as they made their way towards the cabin. Peyton's eyes widen and she buries her face into Daryl's neck out of fear. Beth looks out the window and sees they were coming from the back. Beth turns back to Daryl and nods towards the door. "Let's go." She adjusts Danny in her arms and starts to the door, but Daryl grabs her arm.

"Stay near me this time," he says lowly to her. She rolls her eyes.

"Yes, Mr. Dixon."

**~%~**

She thought she had seen it all.

But when they had gotten back to the truck, Beth had truly discovered that she hadn't. When they got through the trees, Natalie and Patrick had gotten back with gas and had put it into the truck. They had been waiting for them to arrive, but when they saw the two children with them, the jokes started to roll at Beth. Daryl, being that he wasn't there, had no clue what they were talking about, but all he saw was Beth being flustered as hell.

Then after telling them how they found the kids, Beth had taken Peyton from Daryl and was starting to work on her ankle, while she gave Danny to the man. And she came to one conclusion while she was fixing Peyton.

Daryl, with a baby, was so sexy.

Granted, she had seen him with Judith before, and even then she had thought that was a great quality in him, but right now she felt something completely different when she looked at him with Danny. Danny actually looked a little bit like Daryl, like how Peyton slightly looked like Beth. She had noticed this, but didn't really pay it any mind until now. The baby had tufts of dark brown hair on his head, and Beth had noticed he had light blue eyes, just like Daryl. The likeness was uncanny.

But that wasn't what made her smile. It was how he was interacting with the boy. Danny would reach up and play with his fingers, his hair, his face, really anything the one year old could reach, but he went along with it, smiling and rocking the baby as he saw fit, and Beth smiles at the babes giggling and laughing. It was like he had been doing this his whole life.

"Wow," she mutters as she watches him. Peyton watches her curiously.

"Are you and Daryl together?" Beth turns back to the girl and looks at her confused.

"No. Why would you think that?" she asks, her voice having a twinge of nervousness in it. Peyton shrugs.

"You look at Daryl like how my mommy used to look at my daddy." Beth blushes and looks back to Peyton's ankle.

"Well, we're not," she mumbles. _But God do I want us to be _she thinks. She wraps the bandage around the girls leg one more time tightly and pulls back, looking at her work. "That's all patched up, but you have to stay off that for a little while, or else we're gonna have more trouble with that. It's only sprained, so it should get better soon, but for now that's all I can do." Peyton smiles and looks at bandage, placing her hand on the used fabric.

"It's fine. I just like to run. It's going to stink." Beth smiles and stands up, helping Peyton to her feet and bringing her over to the edge of the truck, sitting her down. Beth jumps out of the truck and walks over to Daryl, who was still holding Daniel in his arms, sitting down with his back against a tree. She stands over him, and he looks up. Danny follows his movements and laughs, holding his hands out to Beth. Daryl smiles slightly.

"Looks like someone want's ya," he says, holding Danny up for Beth. The woman takes her into her arms happily, holding the baby with ease. Daryl watches her smile at the baby, hold him tight to her body and let him play with her hair once more, and a sudden vision goes through his head.

The world would finally have dimmed down on walkers, and they're would be less death. He'd be huntin' in the woods, bringing home a nice stag for them to eat. He'd walk onto their property and Daniel would come out, obviously older, probably around five or six, all dressed up like Daryl, a slingshot Daryl had made for him in his hands as he pretended to fire it at the monsters that Daryl would face. Peyton would come out a second later and tell Daniel to get back in the house, looking like Beth more and more, her blonde hair in a ponytail.

Once Daryl got inside, Beth would be the first thing he saw, cooking dinner and taking care of another kid, a little girl in her arms, who was smiling and giggling, just like Daniel did. Then he was walk over to her, take her in his arms and kiss her like there was no tomorrow. Then pull back and give the little girl a kiss on the forehead, and she would babble at him.

Yeah, that was a vision, all right. And looking at Beth right now, he realized that was really what he wanted to happen, but knew deep down that it never could. The world would always be shit.

"Daryl?" she asks, breaking him from his thoughts. He sees the curious look on her face and realizes that he had been staring at her all this time, and he feels his cheeks redden. "You okay?"

"I'm fine," he mutters, standing up. Before he could walk away, Beth's hand grasps onto his arm, pulling him back. His brow furrows at her reaction, but she simply smiles and gives him a soft squeeze.

"Thanks for watching him," she says to him quietly. The sincerity in her words stopped him in his tracks, and his eyes connected with hers. Beth froze to her spot on the ground. In that gaze she saw so much, things he would only unveil to her. Lust, desire, hunger, whatever you could call it, he was showing it, directly to her, and that's one of the reason's why the felt a slightly unfamiliar feeling of warmth gather at the pool of her stomach. But that wasn't it. There were other emotions she saw, others that she had never seen him ever put out.

Admiration, need, want and...something else. Something she hadn't seen in any guy she had ever liked or dated, and she wanted him to say it, wanted to hear it come from him.

"Daryl..." she whispers, her voice barely audible. She sees his eyes bounce from her lips to her eyes a couple of times before he parts his mouth slightly, beginning to say something, but Natalie's voice cuts him off.

"HEY!" she yells. Beth jumps, startling Danny, who had nearly started to fall asleep. She looks over at the woman slightly angry as Daryl looks into the forest, cursing Natalie out in his head. Natalie gestures her hand over to them, telling them to come over. "Sorry to interrupt, but we sort of have to go. We're running out of daylight already. Days are going by faster and that means we need to get out to find the roads easier!"

"We'll be there in a minute!" Beth shouts back. Natalie nods and heads to the front of the truck. Beth turns back to Daryl and adjusts Daniel in her arms again. "You...were gonna say...something?" she asks quietly.

"Was nothin'," he mumbles. She lets her shoulders drop and she stares at him, incredulously. So because someone interrupted them he wasn't going to speak? Bullshit.

"Of course it's not," she says. "It's never not, is it?"

"Beth, what the hell do ya want me to do?" he whispers fiercely to her. She narrows her eyes at his attitude.

"I want you to stop runnin' away from what's obviously between us!" she says back angrily, gesturing to the two of them. "You know it's there, I know it's there, even fucking Carol knows it's there!" Daryl steps up to her, his eyes in slits and narrowed forcefully.

"There aint nothin' there," he growls to her. She doesn't move one inch, keeping her stance at him.

"That's bullshit," she whispers to him. "And you know it." Her stare doesn't waver at all as he does the same, but he does realize that she's right. Everything he did say was complete and utter bullshit, and the fact that she wasn't backing down from this made him want her even more. Against his better judgment, he feels his mouth turn up in a slight smirk at her braveness, but she keeps her stoic face.

"Beth, I'm not good with this shit," he mutters. "I aint ever been. I'm not the best. Ya will be better off with someone else." Only then does the stoic expression leave and a soft look appears.

"Daryl, it's the end of the world. I don't want a cookie cutter guy who can give me everything. They're probably all dead anyway. I was someone who can stay by my side during this and fight, who can keep me and the kids alive. I want you, Daryl."

_God damn it, Beth. Yer makin' this too damn hard _he thinks. Figuratively and literally. He felt his dick growing at the sound of her words, and fuck if he didn't want to take her away from these people and screw her right up against a tree, kids there or not, but ne couldn't, and he wouldn't. Not now.

He leans down and for a split second Beth thinks he's going to kiss her, but instead cups her face and gives her a soft peck on her forehead. Her brow furrows as he pulls back and walks towards the truck. She watches him go, still in slight shock. She sees Peyton smile at him and he lifts her up, hearing her giggle. Only the tug of Daniels hand on a string of her hair brings her back to reality, and she looks at the boy with a confused look on her face.

"Why is that man so confusing?" she asks the baby. Daniel giggles at her expression and she rolls her eyes. "Why am I asking a baby this?" she chuckles, finally beginning to walk over to the truck.

**~%~**

They had been on the road for a little while now, and almost everyone was asleep. Peyton and Daniel were both asleep together near the corner of the truck, laying on Beth jacket she had found. She wasn't about to let them sleep on the floor. Daryl was slowly falling asleep but he tried to stay awake for protections sake. Beth sat next to him, crossing her arms over her chest to make herself warm. She looks over at Daryl and nudges his shoulder.

"Get some sleep, Daryl," she whispers. He shakes his head.

"Don't need it," he mumbles. She rolls her eyes. _Why is this man so stubborn? _

"Daryl, I don't need the sleep. You do. Just close your eyes and go to sleep." He looks at her for a second and lifts up his hand, brushing a stray piece of hair behind her ear. Luckily, everyone was either asleep or busy, so no one saw the small sign of affection. She smiles softly.

The car stops short and the people in the front were silent. Beth stands up and looks outside.

"What's going on?"

"We have company," Natalie states grimly. Daryl stands up from his spot and stands next to Beth, looking outside.

"Oh shit," he states quietly. There were people outside, all with masks on, most of them ski masks, with their guns pointed at the truck.

"GET OUT OR WE'LL SHOOT!" One of them yells. Natalie and Patrick share a quick look and nod, stepping out slowly. Everyone in the back woke up steadily and Beth jumps to the back, grabbing Daniel into her arms before he could start crying. Peyton looks up at Beth and Daryl confusedly.

"What's going on?" she asks sleepily. Daryl leans down and lifts the girl into his arms, stepping out.

"Don't know. Just stay quiet," he mutters to her. Peyton nods and lays her head on Daryl's shoulder, closing her eyes. MK and Alice wake up and tell Carol there was something going on outside, and she watches cautiously. Morgan and Walter stay in front of the group, they're guns drawn. The leader from the other group places his hands up.

"Put your weapons down. We mean no harm." Daryl snorts at this.

"Coulda fooled us," he says back, his voice with a bit of a snap to it. The man takes off mask and smiles at the man who was holding the little girl.

"Yeah, we could have, but we didn't mean to." The others takes off their masks, seeing as how Natalie's group complied with what they said. A man, close to the leader, smiles at Beth creepily, and Beth feels a shiver of fear run up her spine. This wasn't like how it was with Walter. She was actually legit afraid of this man. He screamed rapist.

"Well, hello there, Cinderella," he states, placing his weapon down. "Aren't you a nice piece of tail. How about you ditch the kid and come to my side of town for a little while, huh?" Daryl glares menacingly at the man, stepping in front of Beth with an air of possessiveness that Beth had never seen him show.

"She's _mine_," he growls at the man. Beth stares at Daryl, too shocked to say words, but decides to play along. If she looked too surprised the guy would catch on. She just prayed this wouldn't be the end of this.

"Oh really?" the man says, laughing. "How the hell did a redneck piece of shit like you score her?" Daryl only saw red and went for his knife, but Beth's words stopped him.

"I'm sorry, but even if we weren't together, he'd have more of a chance with me then you would in a million years." Daryl smirks proudly while the man glares at Beth, who simply shrugs. The leader places his hand up.

"Jack, calm down. Now, we stopped you for a reason. You refuse to not do it, we kill you all." The bluntness of the statement through everyone off, and Beth made sure to stay near Daryl, who was still standing in front of them, preventing her from moving anywhere with Danny in her arms. Peyton looks at the scene with worry, but Daryl holds her tighter when he feels her begin to shake.

"Don't worry, sweetheart. Everything's gonna be fine," he says gently to the little girl. She nods and brings her hands around his neck as the leader looks over at Beth and Daryl with the kids, and he smiles brightly, bringing his hands together.

"Are you guys all together?" he asks commonly. Daryl looks to Beth, and she nods shortly, giving him permission to do this. He already knew that she wanted him, though he was stubborn to really act on it, but doing this was some serious shit, and he wasn't about to let Beth get killed or raped, not over his dead body.

"Yeah, we are," he states back. The leader's smile gets larger.

"Well, then we won't be going anything terrible, as least not yet. All we need," he states, turning to Natalie and Patrick, who were watching him anxiously, "is a ride to Washington."

**~%~**

**Review please? :) Luv ya! Gotta keep writing. XD**


	7. Captives

**I need to stop updating so fast lol I type literally all day. Thanks for the new reviews, followers and favorites! they always make me want to keep writing :)**

**~%~**

"What?! Hell no!" MK screams from the side. Some woman from the side knocks her in the back of the head with the butt of her gun, and she falls to the ground. Alice's eyes widen and she falls to the ground to help MK up, glaring at the woman.

"You bitch!"

"Don't fucking talk when the leader is!" The woman yells back. Alice makes to get up and punch the woman, but she aims her gun right at Alice's forehead. She stops in her tracks and lowers her fist, and the woman smirks. "That's right. Aint so tough now, huh? Just want to keep yer friend alive? Then shut the fuck up and sit down!" Alice keeps her eyes narrow but instead sits next to MK, who was still cradling her head.

"Rea, calm yourself. There's no need to hurt someone yet." Natalie and Patrick stood stark still, as did the rest of the group. Beth didn't know what to do. What she really wanted to happen was for these assholes to look away so she could run over and help MK, but she knew that Daryl would stop her, and even if she did escape him they would shoot her down. It was a lose-lose situation. The leader looks back and once again take a deep breath, showing off that devilish smile that e everyone in the group was starting to hate. "Obviously you know our intention for doing this. My name is Jeffery, and to be honest, this isn't the first time we've seen you."

Natalie's brow furrows. "You've seen us before?" she asks, her eyes widening. "When the hell was that?!"

"When you were raiding that town a couple of days ago? Remember that?" Beth's eyes widen, while Daryl and Carol's brows furrowed. They had no clue what this man was talking about, but apparently the group from the hospital did. Patrick steps in front of Natalie, seemingly taking on the big brother role.

"Look dude-"

"That place was practically our mall. We saw you raid all the stores. You took most of our food and weapons, not to mention our clothes," he says, looking at Natalie with a pointed expression.

"We didn't know anyone owned that place!" Alice yells at him. "There weren't any signs telling us not to go in!"

"Yes there was," another woman states. "It was on the very edge of the first building. All white? It said _Stay Out or You Stay In." _Beth's eyes widen slightly.

"What the hell does that mean?" she asks, adjusting Daniel yet again in her arms as he started to fuss. The man before, Jack, she had learned, was smirking at her fright, but she tried as hard as she could not to let it be shown. At least not as much as she used to show. Jeffery holds up his hand to stop the man from replying, knowing he would be happy to illustrate exactly what they did to trespassers.

"Now, usually, when people trespass our land, you can't leave. We kill you on sight. But we saw your truck, and thought that would be a great way to get to Washington. All our cars are down on gas or run down, so we need something like your vehicle to get to the safe zone there. I'm guessing that was where you guys were heading as well?" he says, gesturing his hand to Natalie and the rest of the small group. Natalie solemnly nods, keeping her eyes trained on the people in front of them. Jeffery smiles. "Good, but before we even think about heading there, we need to punish you first."

"Isn't driving you punishing enough?" MK mumbles from the ground. Rea glares at raises the butt of her gun again, but Jeffery stops her.

"Rea, not yet!" he hisses. Rea stops in her movements, but keeps her glare on the woman. "Just because we're forcing you to take us to Washington doesn't mean that's your punishment. We will need you...most of you," he edits, sparing a look MK, "to get to Washington, but trespassing an area? That's simply unacceptable, and we can't just let you guys take us without a few souvenirs to remind you of the fun time you had." The way he spoke was devilish, like he was a guy trying to promote worshiping Satan or something like that. He was charmingly evil.

And that scared the crap out of Beth.

That someone who could talk so smoothly and act so nice could be a bad person and want to hurt them. This guy could have bluntly lied to them about all this and killed all of them, one by one, and they wouldn't have caught on in the slightest.

"Where are you taking us?" Alice asks, fear creeping into her small voice.

"We have a camp a few miles back. Been living there for a while. For a week, we will stay, and all of you will be there too. We'll give you a place to sleep, your preference on who to sleep with, but that's about as far as any of your voices count for in our area. We have about thirty people, all of which could fit in that truck, but we need to...use you all, just for a little while."

The group was silent, knowing that if they made a move, everyone would get shot, or killed, or something on the lines of that, and Beth wasn't looking to get herself turned into a walker anytime soon.

"Any complaints? No? Good. Get in the fucking truck." There goes the charm.

The group backs into the truck slowly, while the people watch them, and after a couple of minutes they follow suit, climbing into the back. Beth was about to sit down shakily when Jack came right over to her. On instinct, she moves to the other side of the truck, with what she could do with the amount of people, but she's quickly pulled away from the strangers as Daryl places his arm around her waist protectively and pulls her to the side with the kids. She wasn't gonna complain now, not when they had guns pointed at every side of the truck.

Instead, she simply sat on the ground, a now sleeping Daniel in her arms, and laid her head on Daryl's shoulder to calm her nerves. Peyton had also fallen asleep, and there was no doubt that Beth was going to as well. It was the only way to escape what was going on.

They were being held captive.

**~%~**

After being told where to go and how to get there, Natalie had tensely driven the now quite large group towards the area the other group had been staying at. Tense as actually the biggest understatement of the year. To say it was tense was putting it mildly. The air in the room was so thick with hatred and remorse that Beth swore she could cut a knife through it if the air was visible. Barely anyone talked, afraid of getting shot. They didn't take down their guards. Not for one second. Not if they had anything to say about it.

Alice and Rea were at wits ends, at least from what Beth could see. They looked about ready to kill each other, but they kept their hands at bay. MK had passed out next to her, eyes closed and mouth hanging open partially.

Beth honestly felt like this was a small version of the Holocaust.

Granted, she wasn't Jewish nor German, but this was as close as it would feel like to the actual famous event in history. She was being held prisoner, by people she didn't know, for doing something she didn't even think was not allowed, and now, her and her group were being taken away to a mysterious place in the middle of God knows where, and were probably about to face the most terrible thing she had ever seen, even worse than the walkers outside.

She didn't show her fear. She knew that if she did the people would pick on her next. Showing fear would end badly for anyone in the truck. So instead, she kept her eyes closed and her head on Daryl's shoulder, nearly falling asleep when the truck finally stopped. She opened her eyes and looked around at the group, and saw Peyton waking up slowly. She hears the front doors close and footsteps echo outside before the back of the truck was forcefully opened by Jeffery, who stares at MK's passed out body.

"Wake her up. We're here. All of you roused, get out now." The followers came out first before carefully aiming their guns at the prisoners, who climbed out one by one. Beth tried to get out with Daniel in tow, but was stopped when Daryl stepped in front of her, his eyes narrowed at Jack, who still had that same devilish smirk on his face. Daryl reached behind with his free hand and gently pulled Beth behind him as he saw other people look their way.

Beth looks over at Alice and sees her shaking MK's shoulder, first lightly and then heavily, her face contorting in fright.

"MK? MK?! Mary-Kate, please!" she exclaims. That was the first time that Beth had ever heard someone use MK's full name since she met her. Alice's eyes were wide with fright and she kept shaking MK, but she wasn't budging. "Mary?! MK, baby please wake up! Please! MK?!" Her yelling was starting to attract a crowd, so Jeffery and Rea pulled her off forcefully, her struggling against their grip, tears starting to stream down her face. "No! Fucking let me go! You killed her! You fucking killed her!"

Beth wanted to do something, anything, but those words seemed to freeze her to her spot. She looks over at MK and sees she did indeed have a big purple and blue-ish spot on the back of her head, and Beth automatically knew what it was due to living with her father for such a long time. She had internal bleeding, and she died from that.

"Let her go!" Natalie screams at them, but two other people, one being her brother and the other being Morgan, held her back with force. She moves angrily until Patrick leans down to her ear.

"They will kill you if you keep screaming!" he whispers fiercely. Natalie stops her struggling, but doesn't keep her glare away. She looks back at the dead MK and feels the tears start to roll down her cheeks. One of the men, someone she hadn't seen earlier, comes over to help with the body, and Natalie snaps.

"DON'T YOU FUCKING TOUCH HER!" The man draws back in fear, and Beth sees the true nervousness in his eyes, and in that moment, she knew he wasn't like the other ones who had captured them. He was taken and put as a slave, just as they were going to be. Jeffery comes back a moment later and gets up in Natalie's face. She glares hatefully at him. "You're a fucking monster! You and all your people!"

"Gregory, get over here." A buff man with black scruffily hair stalks over, his arms crossed and looking menacingly at the new group. He screamed crazy. "How about you take Miss Natalie and Patrick here to the same ward we took Alice to? I'm sure they'll have a fun time in there." Gregory smiles and grabs the two siblings painfully, and Natalie screams out as she and her brother are dragged away by the muscle man. Beth's eyes widen.

"No!" she exclaims, trying to put Daniel with one of the men but Daryl wraps his free arms around Beth's waist, pulling her to him.

"Ya can't run off," he hisses into her ear. She turns around and looks at him horrified.

"Daryl, who knows what they're doin' to them!" she whispers harshly.

"And they'll do the same thing to ya if ya do that stupid crap. I aint lettin' ya get hurt no more, Beth." The young girl looks at him in slight shock, but sees the truth in his eyes and instead holds Daniel close to her chest, nodding her head slightly.

"You guys!" At this mention, Daryl takes a step in front of Beth. Jeffery walks over and looks at the couple of people, only recognizing Beth. He crosses his arms and looks at Daryl, and then the two children. "Ya'll are really a family? Together and all?" Thankfully, both Peyton and Daniel fell asleep, so neither of them would make a comment about what the man said. Daryl nods, keeping his eyes trained on Jeffery.

"Yeah, they are," he growls at him. Jeffery looks behind him and sees Morgan and Walter close together, staring at the scene in front of them.

"I'm gonna guess you guys are your own family, huh?" he asks Morgan. The man nods, and Jeffery sighs, looking pointedly at Beth. His eyes look up and down, and Beth feels herself squirm under his gaze until Daryl yet again moves in front of her to stop Jeffery's wandering eyes.

"Beth, is it? I know that you didn't willingly go in with that woman to the store to get clothes. She made you, am I correct?" Beth bites her lip and shrugs slightly.

"Yes." Jeffery nods and looks around him at the building they were hold up in, much nicer than the one that Alice and the rest had been taken too. It was tall, with many windows and had to be at least one hundred feet tall. It must have been an old office building. He turns back to the group and nods. "Follow me. You're lucky you guys are family."

As they walked closer and closer to the building, in the dim moonlight that was shining down as it rose higher into the sky, Beth saw bars on the windows, and right there, she knew this had been a mental hospital. Only those places and jails had bars on the windows. And she knew this was _not_ a jail.

They walk inside, and it had an almost air like quality, a moment of nothing. There didn't look to be anyone-or anything-in the lobby, until the door closed behind them. At that sound, plenty of people began to flow the hallways, talking like there was nothing going on outside. A few passerby's spared the new group a fleeting glance, but nothing more. It was like they were completely invisible. Jeffery didn't stop though. He kept walking to an elevator near the far end of the building, and the group reluctantly followed.

For a few seconds, Beth looked behind her and her brow furrows, seeing that Carol wasn't with them. She nudges Daryl's free arm.

"Carol isn't with us," she whispers to him. His brow furrows and he looks behind as well, seeing that the older woman was in fact missing.

"Where the fuck did she go?" he asks, stopping in his tracks. Jeffery turns and sees the man stopped.

"HEY! We keep moving!" The shouting of the man woke Peyton up, and she jumped in Daryl's arms, looking around the place with a mixture of confusion and curiosity. That gesture seemed to wake Daryl up as well. No matter how much had wanted to go and find the woman, he knew he had to stay here or else everyone else in their group would get killed, and he wasn't about to let that happen. So he turns around and follows the man with a heavy sigh. When they reach the elevator, Jeffery pushes the second floor button and tenth floor button.

"Why two?" Walter asks quietly. Beth looks over at him and was surprised. This was the first time she had even seen him fully express fear of any kind.

"That's where we get off," he says, nodding at Morgan and Walter, who were both quiet at the man. He turns to Beth and Daryl. "Tenth floor is literally where there is barely anyone. Only a few families live up there for now. Just pick one and that's your place for the next week. You're lucky you guys didn't actually raid. You would have been in much worse circumstances."

"This aint fair," Morgan states. Jeffery raises an eyebrow at him.

"Oh really?" Beth crosses her arms and looks curiously at the man. Truth be told she thought the same thing, but right now wasn't the time to express it. Not in a small and overheated elevator with the man who had a gun in his hands. "And how is it not fair?"

"Cause we ate that food that gave us. We deserve just as much."

"You did not raid our place," Jeffery states. "Those people did. You did eat our food and used our weapons, which we obviously have to punish for, but that as severely as actual stealing. We have to have some morals, right?" Beth snorts slightly, and Jeffery turns to her. "Now what?"

"You don't have any morals. You think you're all good and saving people, when at the same time you're killing others to do that. That's not moral. That's inhumane. And it's stupid because you're putting other people, who have been surviving, in actual danger for your own well being. Don't be a hypocrite. It's not pleasing."

"Look doll face. You're lucky I didn't kill your boyfriend over here and let Jack rape you. I'm usually not this nice. And Jack was pissed off. But when it comes down to the grim and dirtiness of the world, you can't survive." The door opens and he pushes Morgan and Walter out, two other men taking them away. "I bet before all this, you were nothing but a regular farm girl, am I right? Living in a nice big house and going to school, getting straight A's?" Beth glares at him.

"You don't know anything about me."

"Oh, trust me, sweetie. I do."

"Man, just shut the hell up," Daryl hisses at the guy. "Ya don't know what she's been through. She's strong. Yer just too dumb to see it."

"HA!" Jeffery laughs, banging the side of the elevator. Daniel woke up at that point. "HER? Strong?! That's a laugh! I bet you she couldn't make it five minutes out there all by herself. She has to have people around her to survive to protect her." He smirks at Daryl. "And what about you, boy? There's no way these two are actually yours, and there's positively no way that she would ever go for a guy like you before all this crap. Wonder what you did to get her. Probably for protection." At this point, Daryl was seething at the man, but Beth wasn't backing down.

"Oh, go fuck yourself!"

The choice of words surprised everyone, even Beth. She had never even used that term, and she was surprised it even came out of her mouth, but her eyes were peeled, and her lips were pursed, and she was _pissed. _

"Excuse me?" he chuckles.

"Go. Fuck. Yourself." Jeffery chuckles as they almost reach the tenth floor.

"You wanna know what you are? A princess. Exactly that. Nothing more than what someone want's to fuck. You aint ever gonna be. So I suggest you keep your mouth shut or else you'll be getting into a world of hurt over this next week." The door opens and Jeffery steps aside as they walk out, his smirk never leaving his face. "There will be people up her later on. Stay quiet, and keep that big mouth shut."

The doors close and Beth glares at them, hearing the elevator descend down the shaft, before averting her eyes to the ground and leaning against the wall. Daniel looked at her and tilted his head, wondering what was wrong with her, and he reached out to her hair, pulling a strand to get her attention, a slight whimper escaping his lips. She smiles sadly at the boy and moves him to her other arm.

"Beth, don't listen to that fuck. He doesn't know shit."

"He's right, Daryl," she mumbles, walking into the nearest room. She looks around and sees there was a separate hospital room that was split by a curtain, and she gently laid Daniel down in one of them. As soon as his head hits the pillow, the infant was out. She turns around and sees Daryl walking after her with a yet again passed out Peyton. She looked to fall asleep really easily.

"That aint true," he says to her quietly, closing the door behind them. He lays the child in one of the beds and turns to her. "Those assholes," he states, pointing outside, "don't know what you've done, we're we've all be, what we've seen."

"Daryl, I'm just a burden to people. I barely know how to defend myself, I only know how to use a gun, and now my friends are off in God knows where in this basterdly place being tortured for something they didn't know was wrong, and I was too much of an idiot not to say something because I thought it would kill them and the rest of us. Morgan even said something and he barely talked to the people in the group. They saved me, and I didn't save them." She sits down on the edge of the bed and places her head in her hands, looking down at the floor. "I'm-"

"Don't ya fuckin' dare," Daryl snaps. She looks up at him, surprised by his words. "I know what ya were gonna say. I know exactly what was gonna come out, and I know that even ya don't believe that shit. Yer not nothin', Beth. Ya aint a burden on people. They know how to survive, but ya know how to live. They don't think about anythin'. Just do. At least ya give some sort of thought to what ya do." She watches him sit down on the bed beside her, his head looking down at the floor. "Ya aint like that at all," he mumbles.

"Then what am I?" she mutters, crossing her arms.

"Strong." His reply was instant, and she looked back at him. "Smart, carin', brave...pretty," he says, quietly stating the last one. She feels her cheeks heat up at that statement, but he keeps talking. "Yer all this, and that's what makes ya. That's how ya survive." Beth looks back down at the floor.

"What kind of name is Jeffery anyway?" she mumbles. Daryl snorts out a small laugh at her words, and Beth smiles slightly. "I've never met one in my life except that guy."

"Aint met one either," he chuckles. She smiles up at him and their eyes connect. It was like time stopped. They weren't in hell right now, and the kids weren't in danger. It was just them in an old hospital room. Out of embarrassment, she looked down at her feet, wringing her hands.

"So...I'm yours, huh?" she manages. He stares at her curiously for a second before realizing what she was talking about when the group found them. The words he said. His cheeks light up and he looks away, scratching the back of his head.

"I mean..I...ya don't...fuck, Beth. I don't know what the hell to do," he mutters angrily, placing his own head in his hands. "It slipped out, okay? Was nothin'." She was getting so sick of those words.

"Okay," she states, her voice leaking with annoyance. She stands up from the bed and walks over to the window on their side of the room. She looks out the window and her eyes land on the man from before, who had been trying to get MK's body out of the truck. She felt tears brim at the edge of her eyes as she thought of her, but right now she wanted to prove a point. Some sort of point. "So, if you don't care, I guess I can just go with whoever I chose, huh?"

His head snaps up. "Beth-"

"I think he'd be pretty cool. Think I'm gonna go talk to him now." She makes to leave the room, heading towards the door, and when her hand touched the doorknob, his own wrapped tightly around her arm and pulled her away from even attempting to open the door. She glares at him. "Let me go!"

"Beth, hold up!"

"No!" she exclaims, ripping her arms from his grasp. "I'm done with holdin' up! I'm done with waitin'! I'm done with all this crap, Daryl! You keep giving me all these mixed messages and I'm over them! One minute you're all sweet and kind and...loving, and the next you're just ignoring everything, anything that might be between us like it's some poison! I've had it up to here with your damn mood swings and switches! I'm over it!"

She goes to the door again but he grabs her wrist one more.

"Wait, wait, back the hell up, Greene! Ca-"

"You don't get to tell me what to do, anymore. You don't even want to kiss me on the fucking lips because of all of this! I'm leaving and I'm gonna find Carol and the rest of our group." She finally opens the door but he slams it right in her face. "Dar-"

"Ya think that's it?" he growls lowly, backing her up into the wall. She tries to keep her angry expression on her face, but he was so close to her she could barely breath. A gasp escapes her when his hands latch onto hers and pin them above her head against the wood of the door. "Ya got it all figured out, huh?" She could smell his scent now, faintly hinting the whiff of smoke from all the cigarettes he smoked, the forest outside and just plain earth. Out of every scent in the world, every combination, this was the least she expected she would find the most erotic.

"Pretty much," she breathes, her eyes bouncing from his eyes to his lips. Her head started to feel woozy from his nearness. _So close..._

For a second, he didn't say anything, just stared at her, their eyes connected, seemingly lost. And then it was like a snap, a switch was flipped, and his lips crashed onto hers.

His hands let go of hers and she wrapped her arms around his neck while his own arms encircle her waist, puling her body closer to his. As their kisses got more and more intense, Daryl bit her bottom lip lightly. She lets out a short gasp, and taking advantage, he slips his tongue inside, intertwining it with hers. She lets out a low moan as her grip tightens on him, her hands going to his hair. Every movement, every touch set her body on fire.

In a spur of the moment, Daryl lifts her up into his arms, setting his hands on her ass to support her. She wraps her legs around his waist as he brings her over to the bed, and a surge of nervousness mixed with hunger rockets through her, and she kisses him harder, letting her hands travel down to the growing bulge in his pants. When her hands slide underneath his shirt, she feels him groan and he sits down on the bed, her on his lip.

The kisses didn't slow down as Beth took off her vest, not even registering that the kids were in the room until she heard a light sound come from Peyton as she slept, moving in her bed. She draws back slightly, but he doesn't let her go far, leaning his forehead against hers, their breathing short and quick, out of air.

"Ya wanna know why?" he breathes out, placing one of his hands on the back of her head. He pulls her head in for a kiss, this one longer and gentler, like he would break her if he pressed too hard. "I aint ever had these feelings, Beth," he murmurs when he pulls back. "I aint ever had a girl that I wanted to protect, to be mine, and in this world I wasn't lookin' for it, but then ya came along, and ya...scared the shit out of me."

"I...I did?" she questions, her tone airy. She was still reeling from his kiss.

"More than I ever thought ya would. I already lost enough people, Beth. I told ya, I'm tired of losin' people, and I didn't want ya to be a part of that. I didn't want to lose ya again." His hands cup her face and he gives her another soft peck. "But we're gonna get out of here, and we're gonna find Carol and the rest, and we're gonna get to Washington and see out family again, and we're gonna stay safe. Aint nothin' gonna happen anymore."

She looks up at him, her blue eyes hooded slightly, and her breath wavy. She feels her corners turn up in a small smile, and she combs her hands through his sweaty hair.

"You never answered my question." He raises an eyebrow.

"Yeah? And wha' was that?" he chuckles, giving her another soft peck. She smiles wider against his lips and pulls back.

"I'm yours?" she asks innocently, but Daryl saw the mischievous in her eyes, and he smirks lightly.

"Anyone try to touch ya and they're gone," he says quietly, holding her tighter to him. He turns her back to face him and pulls her against his chest, wrapping his arms around her waist. She looks up at him curiously.

"What's with the sudden change in character?" she asks. He shrugs.

"Ya change me," he mumbles. She smiles and leans against him, looking out the window in front of him. She feels him kiss the side of her head randomly, but she doesn't mind. She'd rather have this Daryl than the one she had a few minutes prior. It was something amazing. She wondered if he would remember any of this in the morning, or just avoid her like he had been doing before, but for now, she would just bask in his arms and slowly fall asleep to his even breathing.

They would be okay.

**~%~**

**Review please? :) Luv ya! **

**I made them kiss! Yea!**


	8. Sick

**Thanks to the new reviews, followers and favorites :) Ya'll are awesome! ****  
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**~%~**

Daryl had been the first to wake up the next morning, barely bright eyed and his body sore from the bed, for lack of a better word. His eyes were slightly open as he looked around the small room he was in, remembering how he had gotten there, and the fact that those assholes were right downstairs, and how he _really_ wanted to go down there and kill them all, nice and slowly, but he knew he couldn't because Beth would probably murder him if he even tried.

_Beth. _Just thinking about her brought a tint of red to his cheeks when he remembered what had happened last night. He brings one of his hands to his face and rubs it slightly, groaning quietly into it.

"Why'd I do that?" he mumbles to himself. He was so stupid. He had gone long without kissing her like that, without losing himself, but these people just had to come, and she just had to say those things. And he lost it. He completely went off of what his mind was telling him not to do, and her little temper tantrum and blue eyes hadn't helped, and all they wanted to do was make him take her up in his arms and kiss her harder. And that's what he did.

And now, not even twenty four hours later, he knew he was in too deep. There was absolutely no going back to what they were before, to just being friends. He had a taste, and _fuck _did he want more. But not now. The main focus was to find the rest of the group and get everyone out safely.

He means to get up but is surprised when he feels a slight push on his chest, and he looks down, seeing Beth had fallen asleep on his chest, her arms wrapped around him and her head nestled in the nook of his neck. For a moment, a small one in time, he watched her sleep peacefully, her chest rising evenly as she breathed. Her blonde hair framed her face as she slept, and his fingers seemed to have a mind of their own as he brushes a few stray pieces away from her face.

_God, she's beautiful _he thinks, smiling gently down at her sleeping form. He couldn't believe all the emotions he was feeling for the woman that was somehow laying on his chest. He didn't know how the fuck he was so lucky to get someone like her to like someone like him, a piece of shit nobody. He couldn't believe she thought that she was a burden still, after everything she had done, after she had saved him _and _Carol.

After she had gone into a hospital full of people who wanted to kill her and got her out. After she had saved two kids from being killed by walkers when she could have just walked away. After she told the guy, who had a gun pointed at them, ready to take them down, to fuck off. She had become so brave, and she barely knew it. She knew she was strong, that she could fight, but being who she was now? That was hard to convince. And he didn't know how to convince her other than just telling her how it was.

A soft whimper from the other side of the curtain interrupted his thoughts, and Daryl looks down at Beth, who was still sleeping peacefully. Biting his lip, he carefully places Beth on the bed and climbs off, walking over to the other side of the curtain and opening it slightly. Daniel was sitting up in the bed on his bum, looking curiously around the room, until his eyes landed on Daryl. A bright smile appears on his face and he giggles, lifting his arms up.

Daryl couldn't stop the smile that appeared on his face at the little boy saying good morning in his own way. He walked over and picked the kid up lightly, who laughed and brought his hand up to Daryl's hair, pulling it slightly. Daryl yanks it away and glares playfully at the little buy.

"Keep pullin' that hair and I'm gonna start pullin' yours," he jokes. Dan giggles again and opens his mouth.

"Da..da," he gets out. Daryl feels his smile widen slightly as he bounced the kid in his arms.

"Almost got it, kid," he chuckles. Daniel keeps going.

"Dada! Dada, dada, dada!" he repeats over and over, his laugh echoing the room. As the boy repeats the phrase, Daryl's smile slowly disappeared. The kid wasn't trying to say his name. He was calling him his dad. Truth be told, he had never thought of that sort of life before all this happened, being with someone and having a little kid, let alone two to take care of. He never thought of all of that until his family came along, until Beth appeared seemingly out of nowhere. When she somehow squirmed her way through the walls he put around him, and changed his views from the inside out.

And now, he was holding an infant in an old mental asylum, who was calling him 'dada.'

Nope. Never in a million years did he think this would ever happen to him.

The baby laughed and giggled though Daryl's smile had surely disappeared, but because Daniel was so damn happy, Daryl offered the kid a small grin to calm him down. At that moment, when he got a good look at the boy, he realized he actually did look a little like him. Blue eyes and brown hair that was sticking up in places all over. Looking at him, he realized the kid needed new clothes, as the ones he was wearing were smelly and needed to be changed.

Or that could be something else.

"Tell ya one thing, I aint changin' that," he chuckles, thinking of how the diaper the baby was wearing was surly full. Either way, the baby wasn't showing any signs of discomfort, just laughing and smiling. "Maybe they got some baby stuff down there," he mumbles, finally setting the boy down on the ground. As soon as he started to move though, Daniel followed, crawling on his hands and knees. Daryl watched him amusedly, as he took a step slightly and the kid followed. "Guess I aint leavin' today," he snickers, picking the boy up and putting him on the bed.

Daryl looks at Peyton, who was still sleeping, but on a bit of a further inspection, his brow furrowed. She was breathing less evenly, and her forehead had broken out into sweats. The sheets below her body were slightly drenched in a light spritz of water. Leaning down, he gently places a hand on her forehead and feels. She was burning up.

_Was she bit? _he thinks fearfully, looking at her arms and legs. No signs of any bites there. He gently lifted her shirt and didn't see any there at all. She looked completely clean. _What the hell is wrong with her?_

"Peyton?" he asks quietly. She doesn't budge, and he feels his blood spike up slightly. "Peyton, come on, sweetheart. Wake up," he states, a bit louder. For a moment, there was no movement, and then her own blue eyes opened slowly, slightly hooded from sleep, and she coughed into her shirt, violent and heaving. Daryl sort of awkwardly rubbed her back, not knowing how to treat a child in this situation, but seeing her in pain sort of made his heart clench slightly. Adults he could deal with, but with kids he was putty.

"I don't feel good," she croaks out, burying the side of her head into the pillow. Daryl looks around the room, noticing Daniel had finally calmed down and was looking at his sister curiously. Daryl stands up and rubs Peyton's back lightly.

"Gotta find somethin'," he mutters, leaving that side of the room for a quick second. He knew that in old hospital rooms there were always bathrooms, so he walked in, turning on the very dim light they had in there, and checked the cabinet above the sink. Searching through the multiple amounts of old medicine that was surely expired and dusty boxes of Band-Aids, finally finds what he was looking for, a white thermometer. He had been through his fair share of hospitals, thanks to his dad and Merle, and he seen his share of thermometers.

He walks back over to the other side of the room quietly and goes back to the beds. When he steps to Peyton's, he sees that Daniel had climbed off his own and crawled over to Peyton's, holding himself up on his legs by latching onto the side. His face was a mixture of confusion and concern, something Daryl didn't know was possible for a one year old to show. Daniel looks up and was surprised by Daryl's being, falling right back on his bum. Daryl chuckles and picks up the boy, setting him back on the bed.

"Ya stay there," he warns, turning back to Peyton. "Don't need ya gettin' sick, too."

**~%~**

103.4

Peyton had a 103.4 fever. When Daryl had found that out, he was shocked himself, wondering why the hell she had that temperature if she wasn't bit, but slowly, everything fell into place.

She had a fever. She was achy. She was coughing. She was cold. All of that came together to one problem. She had the flu.

"How the hell did ya get that, little girl?" he mumbles, running his hand over her sweaty forehead. She blinks tiredly and snuggles closer into her blankets, trying to ease the chill that went through her. Daryl lets his shoulders drop and a sigh escapes him as he squeezes her arm in a slight gesture of comfort.

"It hurts, Daryl," she moans into her blanket.

"I know, sweetheart," he mutters, sighing into his hands. There was no way they were getting out of here today with Peyton being sick, and they didn't even have any good medicine to use to help her get better. "Ah, fuck," he mumbles quietly so that Peyton couldn't hear, but apparently the little girl had excellent hearing.

"Don't curse," she slurs out, her head buried into her blankets. He lets out a ghost of a laugh and ruffles the kids hair lightly.

"Sure kid," he snickers. Daniel's sudden giggle interrupts his thoughts and Daryl hears a bed creak. He peeks around the corner and sees Beth rising out of bed, rubbing her eyes and looking to Daniel, who was reaching out to get off the bed and crawl to Beth. Before he could fall off from his feet and hands moving, Daryl ran over and snatched him up before his head could hit the ground. Daniel keeps giggling as Daryl shakes his head at the boy. Beth chuckles lightly.

Daryl looks up at her smile and smirks slightly at her as she walks over. He leans up as Daniel reaches out to her, his small hands clipping to get a hold of her.

"Think someone wants to see ya," he grounds out, handing the boy over to Beth. She smiles and happily takes him into her arms, him giggling all the way.

"Did you sleep well?" she chuckles at him as he plays with her hair. She turns to Daryl and smiles softly, feeling her cheeks light up slightly as she remembered what happened last night. "Morning," she says quietly.

"Mornin'," he replies, giving her a small lopsided grin before looking back at Peyton, feeling it disappear. "Peyton's sick. She got the flu." Beth's face contorts in worry.

"What?" she asks, placing Daniel into Daryl's arms and walking over to the little girl, who looked up at Beth with pained eyes. "Sweetie, what happened?"

"I don't know," she mumbles. Beth's hand reaches down and she cups the little girls cheek, feeling the heat rushing through her veins. She sighs.

"God, she's burning up," she mutters, standing up from the bed. "What's her temp?" she asks Daryl.

"103.4," he mumbles. "She aint bit. I've checked. She just caught somethin'. I aint ever had the flu. How long does it last?" Beth takes her bottom lip under her teeth and thinks back to when she had the flu. She had been around Peyton's age, too.

"Around three days," she replies sadly. "With that fever, maybe an extra day." She crosses her arms and looks at Daryl. "What are we gonna do? We don't have any medicine. We can't...leave," she finishes, looking down at the floor. "We have to convince them to give us medicine. She can't just suffer like this. They're already pissed off at us and we ne-"

"Beth," Daryl interrupts, causing her to look over at him, and couldn't help but giggle internally as she saw him hold Daniel, who yet again started to play with his hair. "Ya gotta calm down. Aint gonna help anythin'." Beth smiles slightly and rubs her arms, a nervous twitch she had developed. "She aint bit, Beth. She'll be fine."

"I know...just worried." She looks up at him, considering he was a few inches taller than her, and smiles again. Once more, he feels himself get lose in her gaze, her bright grin lighting up her whole face. _Do somethin', Dixon! _his mind chides at him. Thinking rapidly, he leans down and captures her lips with his in a soft peck, not even giving her time to register what was happening.

Once she does, she smiles against his lips and wraps one of her arms around his neck, lightly combing her hands through his hair. She feels him give a throaty moan at her movements and she made a mental note. He liked that.

He pulls back when Daniel starts to fuss, but keeps his eyes on her. Her smile was small and her gaze was dreamy.

"Wasn't expecting that," she murmurs, her arm still wrapped around his neck. He shrugs, looking at Daniel, who was still fussing.

"Yeah, he gotta get changed, and I aint doin' that," he chuckles, handing Dan to Beth. She rolls her eyes but happily takes him, smelling a whiff of the oder. Her nose scrunches up as she smells it, but Daniel finds this funny, and he laughs. She narrows her eyes playfully and smiles.

"Oh, ya find that funny, huh?" she chuckles. "You stink." She smiles at Daryl. "I'm...gonna go get someone, anyone to help." Daryl's eyes widen.

"No, ya aint goin' down there alone," he cuts off, ending the argument there. She sighs tiredly.

"Daryl, we don't have baby supplies at all, and Dan's stinky and hungry, and Peyton's sick. We need to make nice with these people, at least just for a few days, so that we can heal her and get the proper stuff we need. Maybe if we gain their trust we can trick them easier and get away quicker. It'll all work out."

"I aint lettin' ya go by yerself," he repeats.

"Daryl, stay with Peyton. I'll be fine. I have a gun. I have a knife. It's only for a few minutes. Please, babe." Daryl's brow furrows at the nickname, and she instantly tries to deny that. "I'm sorry. I know you're not good on nicknames it just slip-"

"No, nah, I...I liked it," he mumbles a bit awkwardly. Hearing her say that was a bit of a surprise, and a bit conflicting as he had never in his life been called anything like that, but seeing Beth say it wasn't bad. Beth smiles and readjusts Daniel in her arms as he finally started to notice what was in his diaper. "Just...don't want ya to get hurt," he mumbles, scratching the back of his head.

"Daryl, I'll be okay. Just stay here and keep Peyton company. I don't want her to be alone." Daryl sighs heavily, pinching the bridge of his nose between his forefinger and thumb, before he nodded reluctantly.

"Keep that gun loaded," he demands. "And those ears always listening." Beth nods and begins to walk towards the door, but stops dead in her tracks.

"Daryl?" Her voice was softer, almost a bit nervous to ask her question. He hmms, showing her heard her. "What are we?" His brow furrows.

"What do ya mean?" he asks. She turns around briefly, her eyes to the ground.

"I mean, we kissed last night and this morning, and...I just don't want you to walk away again, to just ignore it all. I want to know right now." Her voice was slightly shaky, as if she was afraid of his answer. Daryl's features soften and he walks over, cupping Beth's face in his hands. Leaning down, he gives her a gentle kiss, trying to say what he wanted to. He was never good with words. When he pulls back a moment later, Beth was looking up at him again, her eyes cleared but still confused.

"Ya know I aint good with all this. I've never had somethin' even close to a relationship with a girl, but I wanna at least...try." She smiles.

"So...I'm your girlfriend?" she asks quietly. He opens his mouth to reply, but shuts it quickly, thinking about that word. Girlfriend. That really didn't suit her at all. She was more than that to him, more than just someone who he was openly with.

"Yer mine," he states, his fingers pushing back another piece of stray hair. "That's what ya are." She smiles and leans back, adjusting Daniel and finally leaving the room to look. He watches her go until the door closes, and then walks back over to the kids side to see Peyton leaning up in her bed, her head tilted to the side and her arms crossed. Daryl could easily see that she was still in pain, especially when she moved her legs to get up, but she was somehow pushing through it to look at him. "Yer supposed to be restin', Peyton."

"Are you and Beth together?" she asks, spitting out her question quickly, like he wouldn't let her ask it if she didn't do just that.

"Ya heard all that?" he mumbles. She nods lightly, trying to calm the headache she had. "Yeah, we are." She smiles and leans back in her bed again.

"Are you gonna hurt her?" Daryl looks at the girl with confusion and concern.

"No. Not in any shape or form. The hell did ya get that idea from?" She looks down at the sheets and sighs.

"My family was happy, especially when we had Danny, but sometimes mommy would get really mad at daddy, and he'd have to protect us. My old friends told me that it's the other way around, and I just wanted to know if you were the other way around." Daryl sits on the edge of her bed, seeing her little body implanted in the bed sheets. He could see her hands wringing themselves underneath the covers.

"I aint like that. Never have been. Ya don't got to worry about Beth." Peyton smiles again.

"I know. I knew you liked her." Daryl rolls his eyes and stands up, looking out the window.

"Get to sleep, kid."

**~%~**

**Review please? :) Luv ya!**

**Short chapter! I know! But I'm actually in school right now and I thought this would be the perfect way to end this, as if I kept going on in this chapter, it would have been ten thousand words long XD Next chapter is when the real drama starts, so I wanted this to be a more happy one. :) It'll probably be posted tomorrow night, or even later. Who knows? :)**


	9. Bruised and Broken

**Thanks for all the reviews, followers and favorites!**

**~%~**

It took her a little while, but Beth eventually found her way quietly down the elevator shaft of the old asylum and found people. She kept her head down and her voice hidden away, making sure that Danny wouldn't make any noise as she walked. At one point, she found what looked like an old cafeteria that the patients used to eat in, plenty of people chatting away and eating hearty meals of french toast and soiled eggs, but two people stood out the most to her.

One was the man who had tried to take away MK's body, but Natalie had snapped at him. Now that she was standing closer, she really got a good look at Tyler, knowing that was his name. He had a small frame, not even five foot six, and had dark blonde hair that was starting to grow longer on his head. Probably from the lack of haircuts that happened in the world now. The clothes he wore were simple, a nice black t-shirt and jeans with some converse, fitting him well. Thing was, he wore those geek glasses, or nerd, whatever it was. Somehow, he made it look good.

She looked to the other person, and she realized upon inspection that she had no clue who she was. She hadn't seen her last night when they were brought into this hell hole, but Beth was sort of happy she hadn't seen her. The woman wouldn't have given her full aura of beauty if it was nighttime.

No matter how weird that sounded, that was the God honest truth, coming from a straight female. Her frame was tall, probably a bit taller than Beth, around the same height as Daryl, maybe a bit shorter. Her hair was a shimmery glow of gold, shining off the sun as it reflected through the glass, and a smile that was just as bright was placed on her face. Her laugh echoed the room, and Beth took that moment to look at her clothes.

She wore a simple denim vest with a white tank top, and some skinny jeans with a pair to combat boots. It was the most simple combination in clothes she had ever seen, somehow seeing herself where it, but it fit the blonde girl well.

And by seeing them, she knew who she could talk too.

Walking over, she goes to the table with food and the two look away from their talking, looking at her. The blonde girl looks at Daniel and her smile widens.

"Oh, this guy is so cute!" she exclaims, looking at him with a light expression. Daniel giggled again at her face. The woman looks up. "Is he yours?"

"Well...not biologically. We found him and his sister huddled in a cabinet in an old cabin somewhere. Me and...someone else have been taking care of him ever since then." She wasn't about to go flaunting her new found relationship with Daryl to the world. She knew that man by now, and she knew that he wouldn't want that. He was barely good with placing an arm around a _friend _in public. With Beth? It would be a little bit harder.

"Oh, that's terrible!" the girl says, placing her hand over her heart. Tyler tilts his head at the baby, sniffing his nose, before pinching it closed.

"Yuck!" he hisses out, looking away. "What the hell is that smell?!"

"That's a reason why I'm down here," Beth chuckles. "I need help with this one. Baby supplies. Milk, bottles, diapers, anything. I have nothing for him." Tyler's nose crinkles and he nods.

"I'd be happy to get you that if it stops this smell. I'm Tyler, by the way." Beth smiles at the introduction, even though she already knew his name.

"Beth Greene." Tyler smiles and walks through a door behind them, which Beth could only think was a storage room through the slight peek she got before he closed the door. The woman smiles at her curiosity.

"Yeah, that's storage," she confirms. She sticks out her hand for Beth to shake. "I'm Bridget." Beth returns the gesture.

"Beth." Bridget's eyes wander over to the door and sees Jeffery walk in, talking to one of the men. Luckily. Beth's back was turned, so Jeffery didn't noticed that she was down there. Bridget sighs as he walks out of the room and through the double doors in the back. Beth turns her head to see him leaving.

"I hate him so much," she mumbles.

"You're not the only one," Beth replies. Bridget smiles and takes her hand back.

"So I remember I saw you come in yesterday. Where's the rest of your family?" Beth holds Daniel closer to her chest.

"Another reason why I'm down here. I need some help with Peyton, the little girl." Bridget's brow furrows.

"What's wrong?" she asks, her voice dimming down slightly. Beth bites her lip, really thinking about it. She wanted to keep Peyton safe. Maybe she could just find medicine on her own.

_Oh come on, what is this girl gonna do? _Her mind chides at her. _She looks like she couldn't hurt a fly. _

"She's sick," she states quietly. "I don't know where she got it from but she got the flu. High fever and everything else. I know she's not bit, but she's in a bad place. I just need some medicine to take care of her and that's it. That's all I need." Bridget places her hands up in a sign to tell her to stop.

"Whoa, hold up. We can't just give you medicine for someone sick. Baby stuff we can do, but that we can't, as much as I want to help you." Beth's brow furrows in frustration.

"Why not?" she whispers fiercely. Bridget bites her lip before answering.

"Look, I want to help you, but when someone is sick, anyone, even a little baby with a cold, they have to go to the medical unit. The parents can't take care of them because Jeffery always takes roll call of everyone here, and everyone works, including kids. You have to tell Jeffery. I can't help you there." Beth looks down at the ground in irritation before looking back up.

"Can I just take a little to give her a dose to make the pain slightly better? She's in so much right now. She can barely walk. Then I can tell him. I just need her a little better." Bridget bites her lip once more before sighing, dropping to the floor quickly, and then coming back up with something in her hands. She briefly hands it to Beth, who looks at it and smiles.

"Give her two of those pills and she should be good until noon. But you can't have her work if the flu is that bad. Tell Jeffery. I know he's a dick, but he's the only one right now that keep the kid from working." Beth looks at the man who was talking outside before narrowing her eyes.

"My group is gonna get out of here." Her bluntness surprised Bridget only for a second.

"Not shocked. Everyone wants to get out of here. Gonna take some serious planning though. They have guards everywhere." Tyler comes out of the back door a moment later, a bag in his hands, and he gives it to Beth, who takes it graciously, placing the bottle of medicine in her bag discreetly.

"Here you go," Tyler states. "Plenty of baby stuff in there." Beth smiles and goes to leave.

"Thanks Tyler." She turns to Bridget and offers a secret wink. "You too, Bridget." The blonde smiles and waves as Beth leaves the room. Tyler looks at her curiously.

"What was that about?" Bridget looks at him, smiles, and turns to the door.

"Somethings are better left unsaid, Tyler." He watches her go, a confused expression on her face.

"The fuck?"

**~%~**

After Beth had given the medicine to Peyton and finally changed Daniel, she and Daryl headed down slowly to where people had told them to go, keeping their eyes peeled and their ears opened as they walked, sticking as close together as they could. There were so many people in the area, contrasting to the small amount that Beth had seen the night before. Maybe all of them had been sleeping, but the amount of survivors was amazingly large.

Bridget had been right. The medicine had tamed Peyton's fever, but only for a little less than three hours. Now, it was close to noon, and the fever was starting to come back full force. Because of this, Daryl was carrying her down to the first floor, knowing how much it would hurt.

"Think she fell asleep again," Daryl grumbles lowly to Beth. She shrugs.

"Good. More she's asleep, the less pain she's in." Daniel buries his head in Beth's neck and closes his eyes. "Think this ones falling asleep, too," she murmurs, smiling slightly at the boy. As they walk outside, Daryl sees Jeffery lining people up, two men from last night pushing them foreword ruffly. One of 'em was harassing a young woman before someone pushed the guy off, seeing it was a man related to the person.

"Beth," he says lowly. She looks up at him. "Ya stay near me, ya hear?" Beth nods, not even trying to fight him. He had that look in his eyes that meant _It's my way and that's it. _

"Hey! You guys!" The duo looks over and sees Jeffery glaring at them. "Line up with the rest of 'em. We got somethin' special for you." They walk over but Beth stops him from moving. His glare hardens at the young blonde, remembering what she said to him the night before. "The hell do you want?"

"Hey, don't talk to her like that," Daryl growls at the man. Jeffery snorts at him.

"Finally standing up for her, huh?" Before Daryl could reply with anger, Beth opens her own mouth to stop the fight that was bound to happen.

"Look, I'm not here to start trouble. Peyton's sick. She needs help." Jeffery looks at the passed out girl.

"She don't look it." Beth curses inwardly.

"That's cause she's sleeping. Please. I'll do anything to keep her healthy. I don't want her to be working." Jeffery's eyes narrow.

"Who told you everyone works?" he hisses. Beth keeps her eyes on him, not wanting to give anything away. She didn't want Bridget to get hurt for helping her.

"No one. I just assumed. Unless I was wrong." Jeffery keeps his glare there.

"No," he bluntly says. He turns his head and glares harder at Bridget, who was staying quiet. "BRIDGET!"

"Yes?" she quickly answer, her head snapping up at him.

"Take the kids. One of 'em is sick." Bridget nods and does this automatically, taking Peyton from Daryl's arms and Daniel from Beth. The young blonde gives her a nod of thanks and Bridget nods back, knowing that was the only thing they could without Jeffery attacking them. After the kids are safely put away, Jeffery places a hand on Beth's back but before he could do anything Daryl pushes him away, his own deathly glare on his face.

"I was just going to say get in line," Jeffery calmly replies. Daryl snorts, placing his arm around Beth's shoulder and leading her away from the man.

"Sure, ya were," he mutters. Beth looks up at him with a serious expression.

"Don't start trouble," she says through clenched teeth. He looks at her incredulously.

"Me?! Ya should tell that to fuckface over there!" he whispers fiercely at her. She places her hands on her hips.

"Daryl, if you haven't realized, I sort of can't because we have guns pointing at us all over, and I'd rather not die in here with Peyon being sick. So you need to play nice for a little while so we can get out easier. So calm down and listen." She finishes with a hint of authority in her voice, and Daryl lets out a long breath through his nose, looking away and rubbing his face.

"Fucking assholes," he mumbles. Beth turns back to the people getting in line and looks down. Morgan and Walter were at the end, their heads down, and from what she could see, the few of them had a couple of bruises on their faces, as if they had been beaten. Both of them looked weak. They must have gotten some punishment. That just made her even more nervous about what was gonna come to them considering nothing had been done yet.

She looks the other way and sees Carol falling into line, looking completely safe. She looked like nothing had harmed her. Beth's brow furrows as she waves slightly to the woman to get her attention, but she is completely ignored. She drops her shoulders and begins to open her mouth, but is stopped by Jeffery's voice.

"ALL RIGHT!" he yells, getting everyone's attention. "All of you are here for the same reason. You took something from us. Maybe it wasn't intentional," he says, sparing a glance at Beth. "But it still happened, so you have yo serve us until we gain your trust here. If you try to escape, you will be shot on sight. Now...since we established that you will be serving us, we just want to show you what will happen if you actually do take something ever again. JACK! BRING THEM OUT!"

A warehouse door opens and several people are pushed out, bound at the hands and gagged at the mouth, beaten and bloody, but Beth's eyes widened as she saw what was left of her fragile group being pushed to the line. As they come, Rea pushes Alice menacingly into Walter's arms, Natalie's into Beth's and Patrick surprisingly into Daryl's, all who looked like they were about to pass out.

Patrick looks at Daryl and places a painful smirk on his face. "Hey crossbow," he chokes. Though Daryl had only just met the guy, he felt a sense of anger at the people who did this to the guy. He didn't deserve to be hurt like that.

"Jesus, what the hell happened?" he mutters, straightening the guy out, preventing him from falling to the ground. Walter holds Alice close to him, helping her to stand, even though she looked like she was gonna die in that moment. Beth, on the other hand, just stared at Natalie's broken body. It was bruised and beaten and bloody, and her eyes were hooded with pain. Natalie looks at Beth and doesn't say anything, possibly being in too much pain to speak.

Beth simple holds her close to her. Natalie officially didn't have to speak anymore to talk to Beth. This was perfectly enough.

"Now...this is what will happen to you people if you disobey us, exactly what happened to these people." More of them were shoved into other captives arms, but Beth kept her eyes on Natalie. "The people who were handing them to, you take care of them for the day and make sure they're ready to work tomorrow. Take them to the medical center. That's your service for the day. We don't have the patience nor the time for these assholes. Anyone without people, GET TO WORK!"

At this, Beth throws her arm around Natalie's shoulder and helps her limp to the medical center, while Daryl helps Patrick. Far behind them, Walter told Morgan to stay safe, and limped Alice back inside. All of them were fallen angels, and all of them had to be healed.

**~%~**

When they had gotten inside, Daryl and Beth sat the siblings close to each other so they could communicate at least. Walter was with Alice far off considering she had completely passed out. Beth heard Daryl and Patrick talking, but she simply stroked Natalie's forehead with a warm towel, getting all the crusted blood off of her skin. Natalie had her eyes closed, but she wasn't passed out, due to the nice and even breathing.

"-fucked us up, man," Patrick groans out, sitting up on the bed against the wall. Thank God Peyton and Daniel were in an isolated room for the sick. Beth would not want the young children to hear all this. Patrick was cursing more than she ever thought was possible. "Took our asses and nearly fucking murdered us. Wanna know what that Jack fucker did? He raped Alice, and made us fucking watch. That's why she passed out. That's why she's nearly fucking dead. They fucking fucked her up and beat her afterwards!"

Patrick looked to be on the verge of tears, but Beth didn't blame him. He knew her for longer, and hearing that confessions made her blood boil even more. She looks at Daryl and sees him looking right back at her, and she saw that look in his eyes, that looks saying that these people didn't hold back, and Beth was in serious danger.

"Why won't Natalie talk?" she asks quietly, her eyes adverting from Daryl's and back to Natalie's broken body. Patrick clenches his fist.

"Just beat her. Made me watch as well. Fucking tied down. Fucking could've done something. I'm so fucking stupid," he growls, placing his head in his hands. Daryl places a hand on the mans shoulder.

"Ya don't gotta feel terrible 'bout this. They tied ya down. Ya couldn't do anythin'." Patrick looks at Natalie's form and sighs, looking at the floor.

"She's in some sort of shock. I don't know if it's due to the injuries but she's not talking at all. I don't fucking know what to do." Beth removes the clothe from her face, stroking the side of her cheek comfortably. She knew what this felt like. The physical pain, not so much, but the emotional bond was definitely there.

"We need to get out of 'ere," Daryl concludes, looking to Beth. She sighs.

"I...I want to. So fucking badly," she mumbles, surprising both of them with her language. "But we can't leave yet. You guys can barely walk, and Peyton is sick. Natalie can't even speak. Alice is passed out. And everyone else is off working. We need everyone." Walter looks up at this and walks over, sitting next to Beth. Daryl glares at him, remembering his first words to her, but Walter places his hands up in a sign of peace.

"First, I didn't mean what I said that night. I was sort of drunk, so I didn't really have control of my words. Second, I agree with getting the fuck out of here. Those guys who took Morgan and I last night beat us up a bit, but it was nothing compared to what you guys went through. Apparently, we took a gun of theirs a long time ago, but since it was just that, we only got a few punches. I'm so sorry for what happened to ya'll. That sucks."

"Yeah, it fucking does," Patrick mumbles, pushing his hair away from his forehead. "Shit, where are they anyway? The rest of 'em?"

"Well, we all know MK's...ya know," Beth murmurs, looking down at Natalie, still no movement at all. "Morgan's off working, while Carol...God, I don't know what's up with her." Daryl's brow furrows. He had been so busy with Beth that he hadn't seen Carol at all.

"Ya saw her?" he asks. Beth nods.

"Yeah, I did, but she didn't even acknowledge me. It was like I was invisible." Walter snorts.

"I think I have a clue. They probably brain washed her or something." Everyone who was awake looks at him with a doubtful look, but Walter's eyes widen. "I'm serious! They probably gave her some sort of information considering they've never seen her. They probably took her in no problem because she didn't do anything to them."

"She aint gonna follow what they say. She's with us," Daryl replies, his voice confident. Patrick raises an eyebrow.

"I don't know man. She seems a bit peeved at you right now. I wouldn't be surprised if she did join these people. She always did creep me out a bit." Daryl glares at him.

"She's not gonna stay. She's stayin' with us. That's final." Beth admired his persistence, but even she had been seeing a change in Carol. She didn't think she was safe here, even if they weren't beating her...yet. There would always be a yet. And that's why Beth also wanted her to go with them when they eventually do this. Nobody deserved to stay in this hell hole.

"But we're missing a big thing right now. We can't go until everyone's healed, and that includes the kids as well," Walter states, looking at Alice's body. Beth raises an eyebrow at the gaze and smiles slightly. Something told her that their was a bit of chemistry between those two.

"We can help."

A door slams as the person says this, and all heads turn to the voice. Bridget was there with Tyler, who was looking slightly uncomfortable, but what surprised Beth and Daryl the most was that Daniel was in her arms, smiling at them and Peyton was standing next to her, her own grin on her face. Beth's face lights up.

"Peyton!" she exclaims as the little girl runs to her, wrapping her arms around the blondes waist. "God, you're okay," she says, not even believing what she was seeing. Peyton smiles and walks over to Daryl, who gives her a tight one armed hug.

"Thank you for carrying me," she says politely. Daryl snorts and holds the girl tighter, now fully in his arms.

"Don't need to thank me," he murmurs, giving her a soft kiss on her hair. "How the hell is she like this?" he asks, eyeing Bridget and Tyler.

"I was taking care of them," Bridget says proudly. "I'm Bridget, and this is my brother, Tyler. Beth met us and told me about how you guys want to get out, and we made up a plan, which includes this." She holds up a bottle in one hand while Tyler smiles at it. Beth's head tilts.

"The heck is it?" Bridget walks over and hands Daniel to Beth, who wraps his little arms around her neck, while Tyler explains what it was.

"It's a antiseptic, but a different sort of one. We've gone into the old lab of this and tested it on other cold and flu patients. We've created a full vaccine for the flu that works nearly instantly. It's like Tylenol but for the flu. That way, we cured Peyton nice and quickly. The virus is completely gone." Beth looks at the little girl in amazement.

"Wow," she mumbles.

"Wait, how can we trust ya about this...crap?" Daryl says, yet again changing his words for the kids. Bridget crosses her arms.

"Well, considering we cured Peyton, that way you can get out quicker, we should be accepted easily." Beth rolls her eyes and stands up with Daniel still in her arms.

"And we're thankful for it, but tell us how the hell we're gonna get out of here with these guys." Bridget hands the medicine to Tyler, and she begins to explain while he pours cups of it.

"Someone go and wake up that girl." Walter does this easily, standing up and walking over to Alice. "First off, all of you who are hurt and beaten, are getting a does of this. Granted, it won't make the bruises or cuts go away, so you have to take care of that, but the pain will be gone." Tyler hands Beth a cup.

"Give this to her," he whispers. Beth takes it wordlessly and leans down to Natalie.

"Come on, girl. Open up." She does as she's told, no words escaping. A moment later it disappears from the cup.

"In a few hours that should start to work. It depends for the amount of body fat on people. Kids heal faster. Either or, you guys stay in here or else those people outside will get you and do the same thing, and we'll start all over. We'll get the people that you guys were talking about. Make up some excuse, but they'll follow us 'cause we work here. Afterwards, when second roll call is called, we all meet near the gates while dinner is being eaten. That's the only time of the day when the guards of Jeffery isn't working, but there is one guy, and we need some help."

"Who?"

"Jack," Bridget states quietly. "And we need someone to distract him." Bridget glances at Beth, and before she could reply. Daryl jumps up from the bed, placing Peyton on the edge of it.

"No fucking way!" he growls at the woman. "She aint goin' anywhere near him!" Peyton doesn't say anything about the language, knowing something bad would happen to Beth.

"That's why you're gonna go with her. He's in a guard tower. While she's distracting him, you wait outside until we give you the signal, and then you can do whatever you like. Strangle, kill, maim, I don't care. As long as he doesn't see you guys leave, then we'll be good. There's a truck about a few miles away from here, but we have to move quick, as people do walk around, and other people will notice, and they will tell Jeffery. Once we get to the truck, that's when we leave, and we go to Washington."

"How do you know about Washington?" Patrick states. Bridget smiles.

"I know more than you think, boy." Tyler gives him the last does with a smile and then takes his stance next to Bridget again. "This is our only chance. We have everything planned. We just need you. Are you in?" Beth and Daryl share another look, talking without speaking. They didn't know these people well, but they healed Peyton, and they had a plan. That was enough for them. Beth looks at Daniel, his eyes closed in a peaceful slumber, before looking back to the two siblings, both her and Daryl nodding.

"We're in." Bridget smiles.

"Great."

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	10. Touches

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Every minute that passed by in that zone was torture for Beth. She did as she was told and stayed in the medical center, pretending to take care of Natalie as people walked in and out, making sure they were doing their work. When they would leave, they would talk quietly as not to attract people outside. Bridget had taken Peyton and Daniel back to the sick room, but Beth had visited them nearly every hour to make sure they were okay. She felt like at any moment the serum wouldn't work and the little girl would end up sick again.

But so far, it was stupendously working. Patrick, Natalie and Alive had all healed, and the latter had even woken up from her abused state, though she hadn't talked that much. Beth didn't blame her though. The woman had been through a lot in the past twenty four hours. She had the right to stay quiet. The only person she ever really talked to was Walter, surprisingly, and that was only for a couple of minutes.

Beth, on the other hand, stuck near Natalie, looking down at her sadly. She still hadn't said a single word. She had opened her mouth for the medicine and that was it. Beth saw the improvement. She was actually leaning up in her bed, eating when Beth brought food, but other than that, no words. Just a blank stare.

At one point, Tyler had brought Morgan in and explained the whole plan to him, and he was ready to go with the snap of two fingers. Beth had smiled at his persistence, glad that he had easily accepted into getting out of here no questions asked. To be honest, she did want to find the group so she could see Rick's reaction to finding Morgan alive and well. He was a cool guy. Little fucked up, but cool.

Carol, on the other hand, still didn't have a clue about what was going on. In fact, Beth hadn't seen the woman all day. She wondered where the hell she could be in this mess of a place. Morgan had said he was on fence duty, which gave him the dirty clothes, but he said that Carol hadn't been there all day. How on earth she managed to hide away from everything stunned Beth, but she knew at one point Bridget or Tyler would find her and bring her here. They weren't just going to leave without her. She was family, and family didn't get left behind.

Now, it was sometime near five at night, and Beth walked towards the sick center quietly so the people would not notice her walking through the windows. That was something she had learned to do. Stay stealthy all the time, or else you would get killed.

When she arrives, she sees Peyton and Daniel in bed together, Daniel lying on top of her, nice and calm, his eyes closed and his let chest rising with every breath he took. Peyton was staring up at the ceiling.

Thing is about the sick center, everything is divided by a curtain, so that way, if you did heal, you wouldn't have to be exposed to any other sickness's that could be floating around. Beth found this intriguing, considering these people killed and beat survivors for fun, but they cared enough about the sick to separate them. What a bunch of morons.

She walks inside and leans down to the ground where Peyton's bed was. The little girl look to the right and smiles at Beth, her gaze sleepy.

"Hi," she yawns out, stretching her arms. She picks Daniel up softly and lays him down on the far end of the bed, where he still slept soundly. Beth smiles.

"Hey, sweetie. How are you doing?" she asks, feeling the girls forehead. She had believed Bridget when she said the serum worked. Hell, it worked on Natalie and Patrick, even Alice, so she should believe easily that it would work for Peyton, but she could never be too sure. Peyton smiles wider and nods, pushing her strands of blonde hair behind her ears.

"Better. Miss Bridget made me that drink and I feel all good inside now. It was tingly. Like, really tingly. It felt hot going down. Like wine." Beth's eyes widened slightly.

"How on earth do you know about that?" she asks, her voice a slightly higher pitch. Peyton shrugs.

"People in my old group used to drink that stuff. I snuck a taste one day and I nearly threw up. It was gross." Beth chuckles. She knew that the kid would say that. Eveyrone thinks alcohol is disgusting when they're younger, and then you grow up.

"Don't ever drink that until you're older. You never want those effects." Peyton smiles.

"I won't." Beth nods and gets up, quietly sitting on the creaky bed, cringing when she felt the springs beneath her squeak. "This things are uncomfortable," she mumbles. "They're worse than the beds upstairs."

"It's better than sleeping on the ground," Peyton argues, leaning her head against the headboard of the old bed. Beth nods her head side to side, considering what she was saying. The girl was right. It was better than sleeping on the ground with the threat of walkers around them, but she wasn't risking staying here. Not for a damn second. And not with Natalie being the way she was.

"You ready to go tonight?" she asks Peyton. The girl bites her lip, looking down at the ground.

"I'm scared," she mumbles. Beth places a hand on her small shoulder, feeling the smooth skin beneath it. In that moment, she realized that this girl desperately needed new clothes. The ones she was wearing were covered in blood and dirt. No little kid, not even in the world they live in, should have to live through all of this with just one pair of clothes.

"It's fine to be that way," Beth says softly. "Perfectly fine." Peyton looks up with a tilted head.

"But you and Daryl are never scared." Beth lets out a loud snort, covering her mouth afterwards. Peyton giggles at the sound while Beth feels her face redden. She hadn't meant for it to come out that loud.

"I hope no one heard that," she mutters, shaking her head. "You're wrong about that." Peyton stops her giggling and crosses her arms.

"You can't be scared. Grown ups are never scared. I just want to be brave like you and Daryl," she mumbles sadly. Beth smiles down at her, facing her small body towards her own.

"We're only brave when we have to be," she says lightly. Peyton tilts her head, clearly confused. Beth sighs. "Peyton, being brave doesn't mean you go _looking _for trouble. You face the trouble when it comes looking for you." Peyton crosses her arms again.

"But you're not scared of _anything!" _Beth chuckles.

"I'm scared. I'm scared that I won't make it through the day, or that a spider will crawl into me while I sleep." Peyton lets out a small squeal at this, and Beth smiles shortly. "But I am afraid of one thing. All the time, really." Peyton tilts her head once more.

"You _are_?" Beth nods.

"Yes," she states. "I thought I might lose you when I found that you had the flu. I'm always afraid I might lose you or Daniel or someone I love." Peyton looks down at the ground, her brow furrowed.

"Oh," she mumbles, looking back up. "I guess even grown ups get scared, huh?" Beth nods again.

"Yes, we do," she chuckles. "Everyone does. Even us." She leans down and gives her a soft hug, leaning down and pecking her forehead softly. "Get some sleep. We got to have all the energy we can get." Peyton smiles and nods, letting her head fall against the pillow. Beth stands up to go back to the other part of the medical center, but is stopped by Peyton's voice once more, a small whisper like tone.

"Beth?" The blonde turns around and hmm's at the girl, telling her to go on. "Are you my new mommy?"

She shouldn't have been so shocked by the question. She had been taking care of the kids for a little while now, but it still made her stand still where she was, her eyes glues to Peyton's form, lying still in the bed, her own blue eyes looking gracefully into Beth's. After the initial shock, Beth mentally slapped herself. _Jesus Christ, woman up!_

"Only if you want me to be," Beth says softly. _Yeah, that's good. That'll work for the little girl. _Peyton smiles and looks at Daniel, who was sleeping peacefully at the end of the bed. She looks back up and nods.

"I do." Beth smiles and rubs her arm a bit, her nervous twitch coming back slightly.

"Okay," she says, her voice cracking a bit before she coughed and looked at the girl seriously. "Get some rest, little girl." Peyton nods and finally closes her eyes, laying her head against the pillow snuggling deep into the covers, making sure not to knock Daniel off the edge of the bed as he slept as well.

Beth smiles shakily, closing the door behind her as she left. Once the lock sounded, she leaned her head against the plexiglass of the wood surface and closes her eyes. Why was she so surprised by this? She should have seen it coming, out of everything that had been happening, but it still shook her to her core, and now she knew that these kids were hers now. This wasn't just a babysitting job. This was full time.

She sighs and leans back up, now turning around and beginning to walk down the hallway to return to the medical room, but is stopped when she hears something fall from down the hall. Out of curiosity, she picks up her speed and looks around the corner, seeing the a broom had indeed fallen onto the floor, but makes nothing of it. There were stray animals all over the place. That's all it probably was.

She turns around but two hands suddenly grasp her arms and pin her against the wall, the resounding smack of her back hitting the pavement off the walls echoing through the hallway. Her eyes widen as she stares at the person, only to see it was Jeffery, who had a sick sadistic smile on his face. She glares at him and starts to struggle slightly.

"Let me go!" she hisses at him, trying to move her arms away, but the man was much larger than her. There was no way she would be getting out of this if she didn't think quick. His grip tightens.

"I don't think so," he growls. "You think you can just sneak off, huh? Think you can go see your little 'kids'? I know they aren't yours!" Beth narrows her eyes.

"So? That doesn't matter!" she exclaims, her voice starting to echo off the walls. He slaps his hand over her mouth to stop her screaming.

"Don't ya want any?" The question surprised her enough that she stood still, and she felt his hand slide down from her hand to her waist, and _that's _when everything clicked. Her eyes widen as she tries to move away, her voice being concealed by his palm.

"Don't fucking touch me! Get away!" she tries, her voice muffled. He hand begins to go up her shirt as she squirms.

"You listen to me, you bitch-"

"No, ya listen to me," a sudden voice growls angrily from the right. Beth looks over and nearly screams right there. Daryl was standing close to Jeffery, a rifle pointed at his forehead, a finger on the trigger, ready to blow. His eyes were narrowed, and Beth could practically see the anger vibrating off of him. Jeffery finally takes his hands off of Beth and places them in the air.

"Hey-"

"Back up," Daryl interrupts, stepping forward with the gun. When Jeffery didn't move, Daryl pushed him hard. "I said back up. On the ground." Knowing there was a gun pointed at him, Jeffery gets on his knees, his hands still up.

"How did ya even get a gun?" he growls. Daryl shrugs.

"Found it." Beth snorts slightly, quietly. She knew that she got that from Tyler. They gave them weapons earlier that day. "Ya know what yer gonna do though? Yer gonna get the hell out of here, and ya aint ever gonna touch her again, cause if ya do yer gonna get a bullet right through the head of yours. She's mine. What don't ya fuckin' understand about that?" Jeffery gets up, his arms still raised.

"Message received," Jeffery chuckles, having that stupid smile on his face again. "But just saying, if you don't protect her better, more stuff like that is gonna happen." Before Daryl could even think about replying, Jeffery walks away and out the room, leaving the slightly stupefied couple before Beth places her hand on Daryl's arm, pulling the gun down from his grip.

"Daryl, he's just being an ass. Don't listen to what he says." Daryl snorts and places the gun back in his hands.

"Wasn't gonna anyway." He looks down at her form and sees the confusion on her face. She was surprised he wasn't blowin' up at the man. "Beth, I've been through enough shit now to know how ta pick my battles. If I got into a fight with that guy, would've been dead in seconds. Surprised he didn't pull a gun on me." She crosses her arms.

"Then why the hell didn't you think it out?"

"Cause I heard ya scream. That was enough to grab a gun." Beth smiles softly. Daryl finally looks down at her, and she sees the frustration and anger in his eyes, but the moment her own meets his, it all but fades away. She sees his hand raise up, as if to touch her face, but it falls to his side not even a second later. "Did he...did he touch ya? At all?" Beth shakes her head.

"No. I was...I was gonna knee him...ya know." She gestures to her lower area, and Daryl nearly snickers at what she did. The fact that she couldn't even say the word was so fucking adorable, even though it should be one of the most naive things he should ever think. But this was Beth, and she made him think different.

"That's good. Real good. Should of done it." Beth laughs, her light tone filling the hallway. Her contagious laugh didn't quite make it inside of him, but he felt the corners of his mouth turn up in a smirk. When the laughing died down, Beth looked up at him expectantly, almost waiting for him to do something, her eyes locked on his once more, but instead of doing what he _knew_ she wanted, he chickens out. "I..uh, gotta help Patrick with some shit. Ya sho-"

"Daryl," she interrupts, her voice sharp. He stops his talking and looks down at her. She lifts her hand and runs it up his arm, sending goosebumps spiraling up his skin at her tender touch, and also sending signals right down to dick. And what made it worse was that she knew what was happening to him, but she leaned up, wrapped her other arm around his neck, and connects her lips to his.

It was slow and sweet, but Beth could feel the electricity between them as his lips moved against hers as soon as they touched. His hands hesitantly rest on her hips, pulling her closer to his body, as she wraps her other arm around his neck, running it through his dirty pieces of hair. She didn't care how he looked though. He was just Daryl, and being dirty was a part of that.

When she pulls back, she runs both her hands through his hair, her forehead against his own. She smiles and gives him another peck, his breathing evening out.

"Thank you," she whispers when she rests her forehead against his again. He shakes his head.

"Don't gotta," he mumbles. She smiles softly.

"You know...you can touch me," she says quietly, pecking his lips once again. "I want you to," she adds on as her hands travel down his chest to his vest. She feels him groan as she says these words, and she takes that as a sign to keep going, talking. "I want you to touch me...to feel your body against mine. I want you to make me scream...to let everyone know I'm yours, and no one else's" By now, her hand had traveled to the belt of his pants, but before she could unbuckle the belt, Daryl's hands come down at stop her.

"Jesus christ, Beth," he murmurs, bringing her hands back up. "Fuck. Where the fuck did all that come from?" To be honest, she didn't know. She had never thought she would say it out loud, but being near him just brought so much confidence that she didn't even know she had out of her.

"Dunno," she utters. "Been thinkin' about it for a while. Dreamin'. Guess being around ya turned me into a minx." Daryl snorts, taking her face in his hands and kissing her again, slower, more passionate, and it left her breathless and feeling deep down within her. She really did want him, but he was just too stubborn.

"Aint here," he mumbles when he pulls back. "Can't. It'll happen. Want it too, just...not gonna be out here. Wanna make it good." Beth smiles, noticing his small act of chivalry at this, but she couldn't really care where it was, but even if she did say this, he would still make sure it wasn't in the middle of an old hallway near the sick ward, where her kids were.

"Okay," she sighs quietly, letting her hands drop to his arms again.

"God, where did all this emerge?" She shrugs.

"I just don't want you to be afraid of touching me. I want you...and you want me. At least I think you do," she mutters. Daryl answers that confusion by instantly placing his lips on hers, this time in a fierce and hard kiss, slipping his tongue inside her mouth to intertwine with her. She lets out a muffled moan, her arms slinking around his neck again in a tight embrace. Out of a slight spur of the moment, Daryl pushes her against the wall, lifting her up in his arms, while she wrapped her legs around his waist.

Well, that answered her question.

He pulls back and looks at her disheveled expression, her eyes closed and her cheeks flushed. He smirks and places a soft kiss on her forehead.

"Okay, I was wrong," she breathes out, opening her eyes and looking up at him.

"Damn right." He places her down gently on the ground, her feet slightly shaky, before he surprisingly takes her hand in his. "C'mon. We got shit to do." She smiles and nods, letting Daryl lead her back to the medical room.

**~%~**

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**Super super short, I know, but I wanted to save the escape for next chapter, and put in some kissy time in here XD Next though is gonna be a fun one. Got some things planned :)**


	11. Motel in SC

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When the sun had finally set below the horizon, nearly everyone in the zone had gone into the asylum building to eat dinner. Beth and the others stayed in the medical center, successfully blending in with the darkness that the world provided for them, as everyone walked by the windows without a single glance into the room. The only people had been Bridget and Tyler, and they were checking to see that everyone had gotten in there.

Only problem was, not everyone was.

Morgan had come inside, quietly and sneakily, letting the people tell him what they were doing, and he waited with them, waited until the right time, when everyone except Jack and a few others would be inside. Everyone, even the kids, who were still barely awake but alert, were in that room, except for Carol.

"Where the hell is she?" Daryl states quietly as he looks outside. Beth could hear the annoyance in his voice. "Those people said they'd tell both of ya." His gaze was directed at Morgan, who sighs and shrugs, shaking his head lightly and looking outside.

"Bridget told me, but I don't know if she told Carol yet. To be honest, aint nothin' bad has happened to Carol. Saw 'er in the kitchen, helpin' them cook shit up." Beth's brow furrowed. She stands up and walks over to the man.

"In the kitchen? They put her in the kitchen?!" Even Beth was slightly annoyed by this. Half the group had been beaten nearly to death, and the other half were put to work in helping clean up the mess, while her kids had been sick at the same time, and they put her in the _kitchen? _That just wasn't compatible. "Why the hell would they put her in the kitchen?"

"I got an idea," Alice suddenly says from the corner. All heads turn to her, and she gingerly crosses her arms across her chest. "She's old."

"Well, she aint that old," Daryl mumbles.

"Yes, that's true, but she's old enough that the people here didn't consider her a threat. She has grey hair, for God's sake. That's probably why Morgan wasn't taken in with us." Morgan stands up straight at this, looking at the woman incredulously.

"I don't look threatful at all? That's bullshit." Patrick raises an eyebrow at him.

"Morgan, you look like a sad teddy bear that needs a hug." Beth snorts, causing Morgan to look over with an aggravated face. She shakes her head, placing her hand on her mouth to stop her endless giggles.

"I'm sorry, I just found that really funny." Patrick smirks, shrugging his shoulders, but wincing slightly as he feels the pain return in his shoulders.

"Think I need another shot of that medicine." Walter chuckles and hands him the bottle.

"Sounds like you're takin' alcohol." Patrick chuckles.

"Well, makes me feel good, so I guess it counts," he replies, taking a nice swing of the medicine bottle. Beth smiles and looks at Natalie, who was offering her own, but no words had yet come out of her mouth. They were getting somewhere though, nice and slowly. And Beth was thankful for that.

A door slams in the distance, and everyone looks over to the hallway, where Bridget and Tyler enter with a very disheveled looking Carol, who had some sort of apron on. Morgan was right. She was put in the kitchen. Beth stands up with her arms crossed.

"Where the hell have you been?" Bridget rolls her eyes.

"She's been helping the woman in the kitchen, but that's not it. I think she actually just helped us with getting out, though." Daryl's brow furrows.

"The hell? What did ya do?" Carol smirks slightly.

"I did something good. Get us out easier."

"Then what was it?" Walter asks, helping Alice up from the bed and walking over. Bridget gives Carol an impressed look.

"Turns out she's a bit more lethal than the others thought. She used some stuff that was stored away in cabinets of the kitchen, mixed it together, and created something pretty crazy that she put in the soup. It's not poison, that I know for sure, but it's something that's gonna knock people out. Jeffery and the other guards will be so confused with everything going on in the cafeteria that they won't even notice us sneak out. Afterwards, we just make it past Jack and we're home free."

Even Beth was impressed by the woman. She didn't even know she could make stuff like that. The others smile and laugh at the idea of this, and even Daryl gets up and tells Carol how smart she was for thinking of that. Beth wished she had thought of that. She was really nothing compared to Carol. She had gotten so fearless.

"You've told her about the plan, right?" Patrick asks, getting up from his bed. Tyler nods.

"Everything. She's ready to go. I gotta admit. You're sneaky." Beth fakes a smile as people continue to congratulate Carol, looking down at Peyton and Daniel. The little boy was asleep in the girls arms, and she was sticking close to her side. A sudden thought crossed her mind. While she was distracting Jack, Daryl would be outside. She needed someone to make sure that the kids were protected. She looks up and turns to Natalie, who was still silent.

"Natalie," she mutters, bumping her shoulder. The girl looks up, her brow furrowed. "When I'm doing all this, I need you watching the kids. Make sure they get out, and they stay safe. Can I count on you to do that?" Natalie stays silent, obviously, but nods, her arms crossed. Beth nods and looks down at the girl, who was listening slightly to the conversation. "Peyton." She looks up. "Stay near Natalie when we get out, okay?"

"Yes, mommy," she says obediently. Beth smiles.

"Keep Daniel near you." She walks to behind a bed and gives Natalie a bag. "That has some baby stuff in there. Make sure that gets out too." Natalie nods, tracking the bag from Beth's outstretched hand. She looks at Patrick and places the bag over her shoulder, walking over to him and Tyler. Beth leans back into the bed and sees Daryl look up from talking, glancing over at her. She offers a small smile, thought it wasn't as bright as her usual one.

Apparently, he sensed it, as he furrowed his own brow and walked over, letting the others talk.

"Ya okay?" he asks quietly. Beth shrugs.

"I guess. Just nervous." She looks down at Peyton and lightly caresses her soft blonde hair, rubbing down the pieces that were sticking out. "Hopin' these two make it out safely. I told Natalie to keep an eye on them and make sure they did." Daryl raises an eyebrow.

"Ya told the girl who's not talkin' to take care of the kids?"

"Just because she's not talking doesn't mean she won't take care of the kids. I wasn't about to ask Carol, considering she almost just killed a bunch of people." There was a snappish tone in her voice, and Daryl could see it, could hear it easily through the talking. He looks down at Peyton and speaks to her.

"How 'bout ya go over there with Morgan and 'em? I gotta talk to yer mama." Beth was surprised he used that term, but even more surprised when she heard what Peyton's reply was.

"Yes, daddy." Daryl's eyes widen at the phrase, but before he could reply the girl had taken off with Daniel and gone over to the group. Beth smiles at his shocked expression.

"Surprised?" she chuckles slightly.

"I heard her call ya mommy, so I just thought...didn't think she was gonna," he mumbles, looking at Beth. She crosses her arms again.

"I'm not surprised. You're good to her." He looks back at Payton, who was standing and chatting quietly with the adults. "Feels nice, right?"

"Yeah," he mutters, looking back at Beth. "Bit weird, but yeah." She smiles, and at this, he remembers why he sent Peyton over there in the first place. "What's goin' on? Ya pissed at Carol or somethin'?" Beth groans and turns away, looking out the window. She leans against the bed, her elbows on the sheets and her hands on her face, holding her head up.

"I don't know. I just feel so useless compared to Carol." She feels Daryl come up behind her, but for once she pays him no mind, keeping her gaze on the outside world that was darkening.

"Ya aint useless, Beth," he reassures, placing his hand on her back softly. She finally looks up, a sudden glare on her face.

"Daryl, what am I compared to Carol? She just knocked everyone out in there, and all I'm doing is seducing a guy I don't even want to look at. I'm just someone bein' used for looks." Daryl pulls his hand back and steps next to her, keeping their eyes connected.

"Beth, yer more than that. Yer the one who _saved_ Carol and me in the first place. Ya took these kids under yer wing when they didn't got no one else. Ya stood up to that asshole who tried to talk ya down. Yer not just looks." Beth looks back out to the window.

"I don't even know why you want me. Carol's better. Stronger."

"Carol aint ya," Daryl grounds out. "That's why. I want ya, Beth. I want all of yer imperfections and weird fetishes. Whatever ya like or don't. I only want ya, Beth, not Carol." He said this softly, something only she would be able to hear, probably because the group wasn't that far, and Beth knew that he was still embarrassed about PDA, but she looked up, locked eyes with him, and felt herself completely lose her state of mind at the moment.

She ignores everyone in the room, puts away any thoughts in her mind, and wraps her arms around his neck, pulling his head down to crash her lips onto his.

Out of better judgement, he wraps one of his own arms around her waist, pulling her closer to his body. She was surprised he reciprocated the kiss, as there were plenty of people in the room, and she could feel their eyes on them, but she wasn't complaining. It was probably the best kiss out of the last ones that meant something _real._ They had some small kisses, passionate ones, but this one spoke volumes to her.

She pulls back but doesn't let her go far, keeping his strong arm wrapped firmly around her slim waist. He opens his eyes and looks down at her, an eyebrow raised.

"Nother reason why. Ya kiss like tha'," he mutters. Beth laughs, her smile widening.

"Hey!" The couple looks over and sees the teasing grins of Alice and the girls, even Natalie, while Patrick and the rest were smirking at Daryl. Patrick was the one who spoke. "You two lovers done? We have a job to do." Daryl glares at the man while Beth laughs, untangling herself from him. She sees Peyton giggling while holding a now awake Daniel. She was getting a kick out of this.

"Bout damn time," Morgan mumbles. "Since we came ya'll have been makin' googily eyes at each other."

"Man, shut the hell up," Daryl mutters, grabbing his gun again, his cheeks turning a light red. Beth smiles and grabs her own gun. Bridget nods her head towards the door, her own smile on her face.

"Come on, let's get going. I don't think I have to tell Daryl to stay near Beth, but please do so." The joke in that comment was seeping from her mouth, and everyone laughed as Daryl blushed even more, looking outside. Before everyone could leave, Beth had said goodbye to Peyton, and told her to yet again stay near Natalie, and that's when he got a look from Carol.

Disappointment.

_The fuck? _Before he could speak, the woman had followed the group ahead of her, and Beth had sent Peyton off to catch up to Natalie. She turns to Daryl, seeing the confused expression on his face. Her brow furrows.

"What's wrong?" He looks over at her and shakes his head.

"Nothin'," he mumbles. He looks down and comes closer, grabbing her hand gently. "Let's go." She smiles softly and nods, following right behind him.

**~%~**

When they got outside, they stayed in the shadows, listening to everything and anything. Daryl kept Beth close to him as they slowly approached the guard tower. He heard the people inside the cafeteria wondering what was going on, and what happened to the people, but he kept his eyes forward, and concentration limited. He had a rifle in his hands, ready to shoot at anyone, but all his thoughts were on Beth.

_How the hell is she gonna pull this off? _That was what run through his mind, but slowly, it transformed to _How the hell am I gonna stop from shootin' this dick? _That's what he really wanted to do. To storm into that room and blow that guys dick off, both him and Jeffery. For almost hurting Beth and raping Alice. All of them needed to pay for this shit. But he knew that they wouldn't be able to get away without being quiet.

They had more people. They had more guns. They_ needed_ to stay silent.

When they got past the cafeteria, Bridget stopped them all, placing a hand up in the air. She looks up and sees if Jack was there, and he was indeed circling the room, staring outside into the dark. She turns back and nods at Beth and Daryl. She sighs and walks up the stairs silently, seeing the door opened. Taking a deep breath, she goes to head inside, but Daryl grabs her hand.

"What?" she mouths to him. Jack was literally right near them. He could hear any source of struggle that Daryl might do. The man simply leans down and pecks her lips softly, surprising her. After a moment, he pulls back and gives her hand a quick squeeze. That's when she realizes it. She was probably sweating bullets right now. He was trying to comfort her, in his own way.

She nods lightly, turning back and letting go. Taking another deep breath, she steps up to the doorway and makes herself present. At that, Jack was still looking outside, so she knocks on the old and rusted down metal door of the watch tower. He turns and glares at the girl.

"The hell do ya want?" he growls at her. Beth bites her lip and steps in, thinking of what to say. In the time she had plannin' she didn't really think out what on earth she did want to say.

"I don't know, I just need to do somethin', I guess. I'm really bored where I am, and all the people are healed...so I thought I could help ya out up here." She had taken her hair out of her hairband for a while now, so in that moment she pushed back a stray piece of it, trying to make her face more visible. "And I kept thinkin' and thinkin' about something." Jack snorts.

"And what's that? Yer not gettin' out of here, princess. Aint no freebies." She swallows some spit forming in her mouth nervously, but he doesn't notice.

"I know that...but I was wonderin' if I could give you one." That got his attention. He turns away from the window and crosses his arms, a slight smirk on his face.

"Oh really? Well, little girl, you do know what that is, right?" Beth wanted to shoot him for saying little girl, but she kept a clam and cool face, trying to sound as seductive as she could possibly muster in her disgusted state.

"I'm not a little girl. I'm a woman, and yes, I do know. I've read about them, been practicin'. I know things that can make you howl and scream. I mean, I've been practicin' it on Daryl, but I've been thinking of doin' it to you, ever since I met you." With every word she said, a small step would follow, until her hands were on his chest and she was pushing him into the table behind him. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw all of them slowly start to make their way across the gate.

"You do?" Jack chuckles. "What? Gettin' tired of an old man dick? Want mine?" _In your fucking dreams _she growls inwardly, but she keeps her smile on her face.

"Little bit. I feel like I could use a good screw." She leans up and places her mouth next to his ear. "I _love _getting _fucked_ against a hard, wood desk." He instantly spins her around, pinning her against the desk behind her, and she gets a sneak peak outside. She sees Bridget's hand go up, giving her the signal that everyone had gotten over safely, but she hsd to turn around and face Jack.

"Yer a naughty girl, aint ya? Under all that blonde hair and doe eyes, ya got a sick mind." Beth smiles and leans forward, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Ya know what I like to scream during it?" she whispers. Jack snickers.

"And what's that?" he asks, his hands starting to trail underneath her shirt. Her face suddenly hardens, and Jack's brow furrows in sudden confusion and the stern glare.

"NOW DARYL!" Jacks eyes widen, but before he could speak the butt of Daryl's gun meets the back of the mans head, and he stumbles to the ground, groaning in pain as he held his head in his hands. Daryl steps to Beth and pulls her away.

"Ya good?" Beth looks at the moaning Jack and holds up a finger.

"Wait." She steps to him, lifts her foot up and kicks him hard in the head, effectively knocking him out, and then steps back, nodding her head. "Now I'm good." Daryl chuckles slightly and nods outside.

"C'mon. Let's get the fuck out of here." She follows him down the stairs, and the group was waiting for them by the gates, ready to go. Patrick was hot wiring a car when they arrived, and Bridget smiled at Beth.

"Nice job up there," she chuckles. "I heard. Where on earth did you learn to talk like that?" Beth shrugs, a slight smile on her face.

"I've done some readin' in this world." Daryl raises an eyebrow at this, knowing what used to be brought in and out of the prison. HE never remembered anythin' like that being brought in.

"I know that's bullshit," Daryl mutters to her. She crosses her arms.

"You don't know where I've been," she chuckles, walking over to Peyton, who stuck to Natalie's side. She lets go like water on glue, and Beth grabs her in her arms. "You been a good girl? Stuck to her side?" Peyton nods.

"Yes, mommy." Beth smiles and takes Daniel form her arms, rocking him back and forth lightly, as the little boy woke up slowly. He smiles sleepily up at Beth and babbles lightly, reaching up to grab her hair, and she giggles lightly. Morgan looks at Daryl and smirks when he sees the smile on the tough mans face. That was always a picture. A tough lookin' guy like Daryl smiling like an idiot while starin' at a girl and her baby.

"Man, ya got it bad," Morgan chuckles. Daryl nods, not even looking at the man and keeping his eyes on Beth. It was amazin'. How she could go from a seducing minx to a loving girl in literally less than a minute?

Morgan nudges Walter and nods over to Patrick, who was still hot wiring the car. The two walk over to the man while Carol crosses her arms and looks at Daryl.

"I thought you were giving up on this, Daryl. I told you this isn't good." Daryl looks at her with narrowed eyes now.

"Carol, it's my life. I decide what I wanna do. It aint ya who decides for me." With that, he left Carol with her mouth opening and started to walk over to the car.

"You're making a big mistake, Daryl," she persists, but he ignores her. All he wanted to do was ignore her for a bit. He did know he was being stupid for getting this close, and he would pay for it inevitably, but for now, all he was gonna do is get out of here, and keep Beth and the kids safe.

**~%~**

They had gotten plenty of miles away when they decided to stop the car they had wired. The vehicle was old and the engine was dashed of any hope of really getting anywhere, so Patrick said they should just stop using the car and find a place to stay for the night, and then when morning came they just continue their journey with finding the safe zone. Beth fully agreed with the plan, but couldn't help but notice how Patrick instantly took over the leadership roll when Natalie shut down completely. That took some real guts.

They walked down the road slowly, killing the occasional small herd of walkers as they walked. Though Beth was mostly near Daryl, who had reluctantly taken a sleeping Peyton into his arms, she made sure to keep her eyes on everything in front of her, with Daniel sleeping in her own. She found it hard not to look at the others reactions to being on the outside again.

Patrick was obviously being kept busy, making sure to stay on the lookout for any places to stay. The girls, Alice, Natalie, and Bridget, were close together, trying to get Natalie to talk, but when she wouldn't at all, just stare ahead, they would talk to each other. Tyler stuck to Morgan and Walter like glue, considering he probably thought that Daryl was scary lookin' and Patrick was busy looking around. They would talk occasionally, but other than that it would be quiet. Beth would more than once feel her eyes wander over to Carol.

She seemed angry at something. What it was she didn't really know, but something told her it involved her, and she really didn't want anymore drama. Either or, she kept her eyes forward and her gun aimed. Beth and Daryl took up the back, making sure no one was following them from the zone. But slowly she came to a realization.

They wanted to go to the safe zone, and so did the people back at the asylum. They would have to come across them eventually, and that thought scared the crap out of her.

She looks to Daryl and nudges his shoulder, who looks down.

"You know, sooner or later we're gonna have to come across these people. They wanted to come to the zone too." Daryl looks back out to the front and shrugs.

"If they do, they aint gonna touch ya or the kids. We're done with those people." Beth nods, holding Danny closer to her chest. She loks a few walkers that made their way onto their path, but Patrick and Walter take them out easily.

"Is it just me or are the amount of walkers getting smaller and smaller?" Beth whispers to Daryl. He shakes his head.

"Nah, aint just ya. Might finally start to be dying out, but we might just be in a really barren area. Might not be a lot of people who lived here before. Don't get yer hopes up." Beth sighs, nodding her head.

"I guess," she mumbles. "I just wish at least a few of those damn things would just disappear. I feel like everythin' would be better if just a couple were gone." Daryl looks down and sees she was genuinely concerned about the amount of walkers in the world. He places his hand on her shoulder and gives her a comforting squeeze. She looks up.

"They might not get better anytime soon, but we're gonna stay safe. Ya can bet on that." Beth smiles and nods, looking forward to the group. Daryl looks at Beth and remembers those words she spoke to Jack, and he feels his cheeks grow hot and all thoughts travel to below. _Jesus man, calm the fuck down. _"Them words ya said to Jack...they true?" Beth looks up at him confused for a moment, but feels her own grin spread across her mouth a second later.

"Why? You wanna know the truth?" There was a glint of mischief in her eyes, as well as lust as she connected eyes with the man, and he feels his own smirk appear on his face, but before anyone could say anything, Patrick called out to them.

"Hey!" he exclaims. Everyone looks to him, while he was smiling. "There's a motel up front! We can stay there for the night!" Beth smiles as does everyone else as they follow Patrick to the motel that was slightly off the road. It was two stories, with a pool and plenty of parking for visitors to come, at one point. It looked like it had been busy before the world went to shit, but now, it was nothing. One thing really stood out though as Beth made her way inside. The sign.

_Happy Holiday Motel _

_Located in S.C._

Beth chuckles and looks to Daryl, her eyes bright. "Well, I know there's one thing you can't say anymore." Daryl snorts.

"Like what?"

"That you've never been our of Georgia. We're in South Carolina." Daryl's brow furrows as he looks at the sign before grinning wide, very surprisingly to Beth, and wrapped an arm around her waist.

"I'll be damned."

**~%~**

**Review please? :) Luv ya! And sorry for the long wait lol I've been busy. **


	12. Very Important Authors Note

**First off SPOILERS**

**I'm sorry guys, but after Beth being killed, I don't know If I can continue this story. I'm in a really bad emotional state right now and she really related to me on a good level. I'm gonna try, but it might be a while until I can update it. I'm probably going to finish my other story and work ont he one I'm writing with DarylDixon'sLover (even though that one has a lot of Beth in it. I'll try)**

**I'm sorry guys. I'm just...pissed off**

**How could they do such shitty writing? She went through all that shit, just to be shot!? That's such bullshit! I liked her...so much. I'm just so mad, and I need a break from Bethyl. **

**I'm sorry. I'll write if I can. **

**Until then, peace out. :'(**

**~Ali**


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